Understanding the pain Ibrahimovic's UCL exclusion brings with it [Bonus article]

AC Milan are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2012. Wonderful, isn’t it? Not to mention the favourable draw, which has all three Italian teams dreaming about the final. But there is one thing that hurts, even if just a little bit, and that is Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s exclusion.

Milan’s performances in Serie A and in the Champions League have been wildly different this season, and it’s a dilemma that deserves an article itself. Few thought that the Rossoneri would make it this far in the competition but we can only enjoy the moment, as the additional revenue enters the coffers of the club.

The Rossoneri clearly won’t defend the Scudetto, due to the very impressive Napoli, but the progress in the Champions League has indeed softened the blow a little. And financially speaking, it’s even better than winning the Scudetto, even if a top-four finish must still be secured.

In any case, amid the celebrations of making it through to the quarters and also getting a favourable draw, there is one thing that has left a bitter taste: Ibrahimovic’s exclusion from the squad list. At the start of February, Stefano Pioli announced the list and the Swede’s name was missing, contrary to popular belief.

At the time, Ibrahimovic hadn’t fully recovered from his injury and was still working on and off at Milanello. A month and a half later, however, the 41-year-old has played from start for the Rossoneri, become the oldest goalscorer in Serie A history, and joined Sweden for their Euro Qualifiers. He may not have been ready then, but he’s certainly ready now.

If you have followed Ibrahimovic’s career, you know that the Champions League is the ‘one trophy that got away’. It has been his explicit dream since the start to win it and the closest he has come is the semi-finals with Barcelona.

Ibrahimovic has won an impressive 32 trophies throughout his career, from Serie A to La Liga to the FIFA Club World Cup, but the Champions League has always distinguished him from the top players such as Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s the one missing trophy that people have used (wrongfully) in arguments to determine his greatness.

This underestimating is what has fueled Ibrahimovic over all these years, mostly for the good. In fact, he was almost ‘obsessed’ with the Champions League at the start of his career - as he has described it himself - but that has faded over the years. Maybe due to the realisation that he might not actually win it.

“When I was young and spoke about the Champions League, it was almost like an obsession. However, then I started to mature and I got to know myself better. I said to myself, if I win it or not, it will not change me as a player. If I don’t win it, it will not make me a worse player. But of course, If I were to win it, I would be very happy,” he said.

Rest assured, there are many fantastic players (past and present) that haven’t won the Champions League. The best example in this case is without a doubt the Brazilian Ronaldo, who was Ibrahimovic’s big idol from the very start. You have all probably seen the famous clip of Ibra admiring the former Milan man for a good 30 seconds during his time at Inter.

However, Ronaldo won the World Cup twice with Brazil and most people would agree that a World Cup is worth far more than the Champions League. Ibrahimovic, on the other hand, never really had the opportunity to make that ‘switch’ or whatever you would like to call it.

While Sweden did have a very good team at the start of the 2000s, they were never able to compete with the usual powerhouses when it mattered. And with the national achievements thus out of reach, Ibrahimovic once again had to turn his attention to the Champions League to really prove himself.

The closest he has come, as mentioned earlier, is the semi-finals with Barcelona. What makes that even more special is the fact that he left Inter to join the Spanish side, with the explicit goal of winning the Champions League. But instead, it was the Nerazzurri that knocked out the Camp Nou side and ironically enough ended up winning that year’s edition of the competition.

And Ibrahimovic is no stranger to the elimination feeling. He has experienced eight (!) quarter-final failures in total and even though his goalscoring record in the competition is impressive, he’s simply had no luck with his teams in the knockout phase. The last time he got past the group stage was back in 2018 with Man Utd, but the knee problems prevented him from taking part as the Old Trafford side were eliminated in the round of 16 by Sevilla.

In other words, it’s been five years since the Swede even had a taste of the Champions League knockout phase. Seven years if you go back to the last appearance he made in the knockout phase (quarter-finals with Paris Saint-Germain). Until this year, that is, after Milan finished second in the group and then knocked out Tottenham.

With his history in mind, and after several years of the UCL goal being impossible due to playing in the MLS and Milan not qualifying, it hurts that he won’t even get the chance to try this year. Especially since the Rossoneri do have a realistic (albeit tough) shot of at least making the final. I just couldn’t help but think that after the draw.

The players that got the nod ahead of him, such as Fode Ballo-Toure and Divock Origi, have certainly not impressed this season and the feeling is that Ibrahimovic would have made a much bigger difference. If not with his own contribution, his teammates (who adore him) would have at least had that extra fuel of giving Ibrahimovic the best gift of them all: the Champions League.

The harsh reality now is that he wouldn’t even get a medal if Milan were to go on and win it. The latter is obviously a very unrealistic scenario, let alone reaching the final. But with Ibrahimovic in the squad, as alluded to earlier, the Milan fans truly could have dreamed of a justified miracle with the Swede getting the trophy he has longed for.

“Everyone wants to play in the Champions League. When it was time to submit the list I wasn’t ready, I respect the choice and now I can only prepare my teammates in the best way in training. I have confidence in the team, they have done well so far and they will do well against Napoli too,” Ibrahimovic said.

At the age of 41, he’s still playing at the very top and you just never know what he will come up with next. Even with a heavily damaged knee, playing more or less without an ACL, Ibrahimovic made a crucial impact away at Lazio in their Scudetto pursuit. Simply because of the fear he still instils in the defenders. And it’s this type of effect on the opponents that is needed on the big stage.

We can’t change what has been done, that goes without saying, so the fact is that Milan will have to make do without Ibrahimovic in their Champions League pursuit. It’s just a great shame that he won’t be there on the pitch. He will certainly be on the sidelines, though, supporting his teammates like the brilliant leader he is.