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ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC

Coach: Ibrahimovic to make start for AC Milan

AC Milan coach confirmed on Friday that Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will make his first start for the team on Saturday after he was traded to the team from Barcelona.

Coach: Ibrahimovic to make start for AC Milan
AC Milan strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden and Brazil's Robinho on Thursday

Ibrahimovic will play against newly promoted Cesena on Saturday alongside Brazilian forward Robinho, who also arrived at San Siro recently and coach Massimiliano Allegri said the two could feature alongside fellow star attackers Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato.

“There is without doubt a possibility that all four will play,” said Allegri. “But we need time. We’ve worked for two months to find a balance and now we need a bit of time to find a new one.”

Allegri was named as the successor to Leonardo Araújo at the start of the summer, but has had just a few days to work with Ibrahimovic, who arrived on August 28th, and Robinho, whose move went through on August 31th, the transfer deadline.

Ibrahimovic joined on a season-long loan with an option to buy from Barcelona, while Robinho arrived on a permanent basis from Manchester City.

Milan began their Serie A campaign with a 4-0 win at home to Lecce, but Allegri warned, “If we take to the field with complacency, we’ll come off it with broken bones.”

“Matches aren’t won before being played,” he added. “I said it at [former club] Cagliari when we played against the ‘big teams’ and I say it today for Milan against the ‘little teams.'”

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FOOTBALL

Zlatan statue loses nose in latest Malmö vandalism

The statue of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Malmö has suffered its latest damage in a string of attacks by vandals.

Zlatan statue loses nose in latest Malmö vandalism
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

During Saturday night or in the early hours of Sunday, the nose was sawed off the Zlatan statue and the effigy was also covered in silver paint, media including SVT report.

Since being unveiled in the presence of the world-famous footballer in October, the statue has been damaged on several occasions.

At the end of November, Zlatan announced his investment in rival team Hammarby, angering many fans of his hometown club Malmö FF.

READ ALSO: How Malmö fell out of love with Zlatan Ibrahimovic

December has already seen paint poured over the statue and a foot sawn off, with this weekend’s incident adding to the list of crunching tackles against the Zlatan statue.

Police said on Sunday they would investigate the latest instance of vandalism.

“We have not received any reports but have been informed that damage has been seen by the public. We will go out there and make observations this morning,” Katarina Rusin, a press spokesperson for the police in the southern Sweden region, told SVT.

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