Zlatan Ibrahimovic has tried to have the final word on the biggest topic in Italian football.
The AC Milan advisor saw his team’s head coach and captain almost come to blows after a 3-2 win over Parma last time out in Serie A.
Davide Calabria was taken off in the 78th minute of the win and expressed his displeasure to manager Sérgio Conceição post-match.
With Conceição on the pitch greeting his players things got surprisingly heated and the pair even had to be separated in surprising scenes.
The Portuguese coach tried to clear things up post-match, but without much luck, Ibrahimovic has now had a go.
“Yesterday’s situation with Calabria and Sérgio Conceição: there was a lot of adrenaline,” he began.
“It’s happened to me thousands of times, on and off the pitch. The important thing is that it was resolved, even before I entered the dressing room.
“As a player, this happened to me in Barcelona, in Milan, in Paris, at Manchester United: it’s normal, in the sense that it happens. Everyone wants to win at all costs. It was just a manifestation.
“When it happened to me, [Fabio] Capello would say: ‘Calm down, it’s good for the team’. Conceição and Calabria do their job for the good of the team.
“It’s good that it happens, because otherwise it seems like they don’t care. In terms of image it may seem negative or even bad, but these things happen.”
For his part, Conceição, struck a similar tone with the press, saying: “It was a game situation. It’s like with children: if we go to a restaurant and they behave incorrectly, we have to say something.
“I’m like that, maybe we said a few words too much, but it’s no problem. The players are always protected by me and they know that.
“We are creating an important bond and that was seen in the way we won, there was no more strategy, just team spirit.”
At the press conference, Conceição was asked again about the scenes and added: “I watch and feel the games with a lot of passion. There was a bit of an excess of adrenaline. There was a situation during the game that I spoke to Calabria about.
“The players are all important to me. They are like family. If I have a son who misbehaves, I tell him so. It’s the same in football. There is no hypocrisy.
“We talk about things to each other, like men. It’s true that it wasn’t pretty, but in football everything is fine. We’re not in church. I’m already planning my work for tomorrow.”
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