Zlatan Ibrahimovic blames Guardiola for Barcelona Champions League flop

Posted Tuesday, September 30, 2014 by theguardian.com

· Paris Saint-Germain striker ruled out of facing former club
· ‘We failed because of bad decisions from someone’

Zlatan Ibrahimovic blames Guardiola for Barcelona Champions League flop
Zlatan Ibrahimovic spent one season at Barcelona and has still yet to win the Champions League.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has blamed Pep Guardiola for his failure to win the Champions League in the season the Sweden striker spent at Barcelona.

Paris Saint-Germain have ruled Ibrahimovic out of Tuesday’s game with his former club after he failed to recover from a heel injury.

But having moved to Barcelona in 2009, Ibrahimovic was substituted after 63 minutes of the second leg of that year’s Champions League semi-final against eventual winners Internazionale and he has now admitted his regret at failing to win the competition for the first time in his career.

“We had the best team in the world but we failed to win the Champions League because of bad decisions from someone,” Ibrahimovic told Canal+.

“But it’s like that. It’s nothing to complain about today. You have to forget it because I had great moments at Barcelona.”

PSG’s early season struggles have led to speculation Blanc’s position could be under threat. However, Ibrahimovic is hopeful they can build on their recent improvements in Europe’s premier club competition.

He said: “We’re still learning. The club are new in the Champions League and we gain experience. This team has been constructed in the last two years and we’ve been in the Champions League quarter-finals twice. We want to go further this year.

“But it’s the little details which make the difference. We hope that these details will be in our favour this time. I’d be very happy if I could win it, of course. After your career, you look at how many trophies you have. If I win, it’d be great, if not, it wouldn’t be a failure.”