Zlatan Ibrahimovic was ‘knocked over’ with ‘ease’ by his then-Milan teammate Oguchi Onyewu in a notorious fight that broke up during a training session more than 10 years ago, as revealed by Alexandro Pato in an interview.
The ex-Brazilian striker was also in the Rossoneri’s squad back then and was among the witness of a brawl that only ended when players yelled at the former American defender, urging him to stop as he was going to ‘kill’ Ibrahimovic.
The battle between the two took place in November 2011, in a season that would see Milan’s Massimiliano Allegri go on to win their 18th Scudetto, which was their first Serie A title in seven years.
Ibrahimovic scored 14 league goals that season and was among the leaders of the team, but Pato recalled how a dangerous sliding tackle from the Swede during a training session ended up triggering a violent reaction from Onyewu.
“Onyewu made a challenge on Ibrahimovic during a training session, and he unintentionally hit his ankle,” Pato said in an interview with YouTube channel Desimpedidos, as reported by Cronache di Spogliatoio.
“Onyewu kept on playing, he didn’t do it to hurt him, he wanted to get the ball. He had just recovered from injury and he was a bit hesitant.
“At some point, Onyewu stopped a ball, and we saw Ibrahimovic running his back – he made a sliding tackle with two feet to hurt him badly.
“Onyewu was a really good guy with a generous heart. Ibrahimovic got up and tried to grab his shirt to knock him down again.
“But Oguchi gripped him and knocked him over in a second. Ibra is gigantic, but Onyewu knocked him to the ground with incredible ease, as he lifted a glass.
“He jumped on him immediately after, he blocked him and he was about to punch him. But everyone started yelling: ‘Stop, stop: you’re going to kill him!”
Onyewu left Milan in January 2011 after one and half seasons at the club, after making a single cameo appearance during a Champions League fixture against Zurich.
