PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN STRIKER Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not show Manchester City’s defenders the same generosity when their paths cross again tomorrow night, his coach Laurent Blanc has predicted.
Ibrahimovic, PSG’s all-time leading scorer, squandered two gilt-edged opportunities in the 2-2 draw between the teams in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, seeing a penalty saved by Joe Hart and then curling over when clean through on goal.
When he did find the net, in the 41st minute, it owed to a glaring error by City midfielder Fernando, but Blanc does not believe the Swedish superstar will fluff his lines again at the Etihad Stadium.
“We’re always surprised when Zlatan misses chances,” Blanc told his pre-match media conference.
“When you’re a striker, as he is, it sometimes happens in a career or in a match. Unfortunately for us and for him it happened in that match.
“But don’t forget that despite the chances he missed, it was he who scored our first goal. Yes, it probably wasn’t the goal he imagined scoring, but it was still a goal.
“As you know, he’s a boy who’s very, very, very tough on himself. I’m sure he’ll be motivated to show something else tomorrow, particularly in terms of his attacking efficiency.
“But you can’t question his efficiency when you look at his statistics. In the first leg he was behind in terms of chances created and chances converted, but I’d like him to get as many chances tomorrow.
“And I sincerely think that if he gets as many tomorrow, his ratio will be much higher.”
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