Mario Balotelli has taken a dig at Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the former AC Milan forward said the Italian had thrown away his talent.
The two played together at Inter Milan from 2007 to 2009 registering 29 appearances together while they had two joint goal participation.
What has happened between Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
The former Manchester United forward feels Balotelli never reached the peak many players attained during his formative years.
Ibrahimovic further said that Balotelli had many chances to take advantage of his talent and change his future which the former Manchester City striker never did.
However, Mario Balotelli was quick to respond to his former teammate’s criticism. The former Italian forward went on to simply rebut with an image posted on his social media page.
He tagged Ibrahimovic’s account in his story as he shared a picture of himself lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy which he won with Inter Milan in May 2010.
Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who finished an incredible two-decade football career earlier this year, never had the experience of playing in a Champions League final let alone winning European football’s most prestigious prize.
Mario Balotelli was part of the the Italian outfit that defeated the then-defending European champions Barcelona in a dramatic semi-final battle, and they later thrashed Bayern Munich 2-0 to complete their treble winning campaign.
Ibrahimovic is one of the A-list players who retired without winning the Champions League trophy with the likes of former Ballon d’Or winner Delima Ronaldo and Pavel Nedved also missing the UCL medal from their many honors.
Several other notable stars like Francesco Totti, Gianluigi Buffon, Dennis Bergkamp, and Patrick Vieira are among the Super mega stars who didn’t have the chance to earn a Champions League medal.
Ibrahimovic was close to being among the squad that won the trophy for Inter Milan in 2010 under the leadership of Jose Mourinho, but had left for Barcelona with Samuel Eto’o going the other way when Inter did it.
Meanwhile, Balotelli’s spell at Inter Milan ended the following year when he moved to Manchester City. He finished his stay with the Cityzens in a chaotic manner due to a bust-up with the then Man City boss Roberto Mancini.
Zlatan, on the other hand, enjoyed an excellent journeyman career, playing for several European top club sides before he called it quit on professional football at 41 year old.
Mario Balotelli also played for a series of club sides including Milan, Liverpool, Nice, Marseille, Brescia, Monza, Adana Demirspor, and Sion.
The 33-year-old Italian forward is presently enjoying a second stint at Adana Demirspor which is being coached by Patrick Kluivert.
The striker has appeared in just two games for Demirspor in the Turkish league so far this season.
