The striker insists he has put his troubled past at Camp Nou behind him and won't be looking for retribution when he returns to Catalonia next month
Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has dismissed the suggestion that he will be out for personal revenge when the French champions face his old club Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Swede's stay at Camp Nou ended in acrimony as his relationship with then boss Pep Guardiola deteriorated over the course of a turbulent, solitary campaign.
The fall-out was felt for years after as Ibrahimovic wrote at length about his clashes with ‘The Philosopher’ in his autobiography, 'I am Zlatan', but the forward insists that he has put his grievances behind him.
“No, absolutely not, [it’s not about revenge] It’s not me who is talking, it’s the papers,” Ibrahimovic said.
“I train every day, the game [against Barca] is coming and I want to get results. What has been said has been said and what has been done is done. I look forward, I don’t look behind. I’ll just play and let’s see what happens.
He will miss his side’s first leg at Parc de Princes on April 15 after picking up a controversial red card in the second leg of PSG’s last 16 tie with Chelsea, but he will be available for the return at Camp Nou.
“I got just one game [suspension] in the Champions [League],” he continued.
“If you want to win the Champions [League] you have to play against the best teams. I think we will be ready and we will enjoy the two games.”
“I don’t call it revenge. Every game is a new game.”
Ibrahimovic became PSG’s third all-time top scorer as he his 97th, 98th and 99th goals for the club with a hat-trick in their 4-1 victory over Lorient on Friday. He sits just one goal behind Dominique Rocheteau and 10 behind the club’s all-time leading scorer, Pauleta.
