Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasts Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami teammates after Club World Cup exit: ‘Statues’

Zlatan Ibrahimovic didn’t hold back after Inter Miami’s Round of 16 blowout loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup over the weekend, likening players on the Miami squad to “statues” and pushing back on any criticism of Lionel Messi.

Inter Miami’s presence in the knockout stage was already a bit of a surprise – the result of a surprising win over Porto in the group stage – which made the 4-0 loss to the reigning Champions League winners not much of a shock. 

Ibrahimovic, a Swedish international who played for some of the top clubs in the world, including time at AC Milan, PSG and Manchester United, took issue with any sort of blame being placed on Messi for the ugly loss in the 32-team tournament. 

He currently holds a senior advisor position with AC Milan.

“Messi’s defeat? No, don’t talk about the defeat as if it was his fault! Messi didn’t lose, Inter Miami did! Have you seen this team?” he told French soccer publication Footmercato. 

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“Messi plays among statues, not teammates! If he was in a real team, in Paris, in Manchester [City], in any big team, you would have seen the real lion.

“Messi only plays because he loves the game, because he can still do what 99 percent of players can’t! But he’s surrounded by those who run as if they were carrying bags of cement! There are no coaches, no stars, not even players who understand how to move without the ball!”

Inter Miami possesses one of the more star-studded rosters in Major League Soccer with Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suarez.

“You want to blame Messi? If he plays with [Cristiano] Ronaldo, with [Kylian] Mbappe, with [Erling] Haaland, with Zlatan. Then you can talk! But today? No, no, no,” Ibrahimovic continued. 

“That’s not the Messi I know, he’s a big ghost who plays in a circus! But be careful, if you give him a real team, he’ll burn the stadium down again! Because quite simply. Messi is still Messi, but today? It’s not his defeat, it’s the defeat of Inter Miami and football.”

PSG dominated Inter Miami – the only MLS club of the three that made it to the Club World Cup that advanced – and Messi’s impact on the match was limited. 

Inter Miami took home $21.05 million in prize money as a result of their run in the Club World Cup.