Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

BARCELONA

Ibrahimovic in new swipe at ‘small time’ Guardiola

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Wednesday continued his war or words with Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, calling him a "small time" coach.

Published: 2 September 2010 07:50 CEST

Ibrahimovic in new swipe at 'small time' Guardiola

“In my book, a great coach solves his problems. A small-time coach runs from them,” the 28-year-old Sweden forward told a press conference in Stockholm.

“There was only one person (on the Barcelona team) who wanted to get rid of

me,” he insisted, explaining why he left the team and signed for AC Milan over

the weekend on an initial one-year loan with a pre-arranged €24 million ($31 million) permanent deal arranged for the end of the season.

He had spent just one year in Spain following a €50 million plus Samuel Eto’o switch from Inter Milan.

“I have never had problems with any coach before during my career,” he said.

“But suddenly I had a thousand problems and I had no communication with ‘the Philosopher’. No communication whatsoever. I don’t know what his problem was,” he said of Guardiola.

“I couldn’t take it. I had no choice but to find a new place of work and I was lucky to go to a club like Milan. I am 28 years old and can not afford to lose a year sitting on the bench and watching the weather,” he added.

Ibrahimovic is in Stockholm with his national team for a Euro 2012 qualifier against Hungary on Friday.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Why has the expansion of Barcelona airport prompted mass protests?

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of the Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

Several ecological and agricultural organisations, have demanded that the expansion be stopped due to the fact nearby wetlands and farms would have to be destroyed.

The demonstration took place on Calle Tarragona in the Catalan capital between Plaça d’Espanya and Plaça dels Països Catalans.

The protests still took place, even though last week, Spain suspended the €1.7 billion airport expansion project, citing differences with the Catalan government, after president Pere Aragonès said he wanted to avoid destroying La Ricarda lagoon, a natural reserve next to the airport.

Environmentalists decided not to call off the march, in case plans for the airport expansion still went ahead.

READ ALSO: Six things you need to know about Barcelona airport’s €1.7 billion planned expansion

Political representatives from ERC, En Comú Podem and the CUP also attended, as well as the leader of Más País, Íñigo Errejón; the Deputy Mayor for Ecology of the Barcelona City Council, Janet Sanz, and the Mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Lluís Mijoler.

People from neighbourhoods across the city marched towards Calle Tarragona and could be seen holding placards that read “Nature yes, airport no and shouting slogans such as “More courgettes and fewer planes” and “Fighting for the climate, health, and life”.

One of the largest groups of people were those from El Prat de Llobregat, the municipality which is home to the airport, who were led by tractors.

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP

In addition to protesting against the expansion of the El Prat airport, people were also demonstrating against the Winter Olympic Games in the Pyrenees and extensions to airports in Mallorca and Madrid.

A representative of Zeroport, Sara Mingorría said “We are here to defend not only La Ricarda, but the entire Delta”.

The philosopher Marina Garcés also argued that the expansion of the airport would mean “more borders, more mass tourism, more control and more precarious jobs.”

The leader of the commons in the Catalan parliament, Jéssica Albiach, who also attended the protest, asked the PSOE for “coherence”: “You cannot be passing a law against climate change and, at the same time, defend the interests of Aena [the airport operations company]”, she said.

She also urged the leader of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to “definitely say no”.

If the airport expansion in Barcelona goes ahead, environmentalists say that CO2 emissions would rise by a minimum of 33 percent. These levels would surpass the limits set by the Catalan government’s climate targets.

Url copied to clipboard!