[엑스포츠뉴스 김정현 인턴기자] Former Manchester United teammates Lukaku and Zlatan collided.
The two players selected for the 2020/21 season Copa Italia Quarterfinal Inter and AC Milan’s Milan Derby held in San Siro on the 27th (Korean time).
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the opening goal in the 31st minute and succeeded in overpowering the team, and in the 44th minute Zlatan and Romelu Lukaku clashed in a nervous battle.
According to local knowledge so far, it has been revealed that Zlatan first taunted Lukaku. Zlatan said to Lukaku,’Every time you do the first touch properly, I’ll give you 500 euros (about 700,000 won). Go and do something gangster.”
Then, Lukaku reacted to this, and the two players went head-to-head to continue a nervous war, and the situation was cleared up only after the players from both teams ran in and separated the two players.
The referee gave a warning to the two players and later said that Lukaku will’fuck both you and your wife’ while entering the locker room after the first half.
In the second half of the match, Zlatan was sent off for a cumulative warning in the 58th minute. Lukaku, who was also booked, tied a penalty kick in the 71st minute to tie the score, and in the 97th minute Christian Eriksen’s fantastic free kick goal led to Inter 2-1 win.
The nervous war between Zlatan and Lukaku began in the days of Manchester United. After Lukaku’s transfer from Everton to United in the 2017/18 season, Lukaku asked Zlatan for his squad number 9, and Zlatan agreed. Zlatan has since won 10.
Later, in an interview with ESPN, Zlatan recalled the time and said, “I just upgraded my number.”
It seemed to be flowing coolly between the two, but as the roles of the two players began to overlap under manager Mourinho at the time, Lukaku began to complain about it.
Since then, Zlatan’s move to the MLS LA Galaxy in the U.S. in March 2018 during the 2017/18 season didn’t seem like the two would ever meet. At the time, Lukaku briefly mentioned that he had learned a lot from Zlatan.
Lukaku later transferred to Inter in the 2019/20 season, and Zlatan transferred from the United States to his home team AC Milan in 2020, bringing the two players from the rival team together.
The two players they met last season in the 23rd round Milan derby led AC Milan 2-0 in the first half with Zlatan scoring one goal and one assist. However, in the second half, Inter won 4-2, including Lukaku’s key goal and 4 goals.
After the victory, Lukaku wrote on social media that he was the new king of Milan, which was seen as shooting at Zlatan, who led Milan’s rise.
After the season, the teams that met again in the fourth round this season beat Inter 2-1, where Zlatan scored two goals and AC Milan scored one goal by Lukaku.
After that, Zlatan said on social media,’There is no king in Milan. “There is only God,” he counterattacked Lukaku’s remarks.
The two players are expected to continue fierce competition from Serie A to Inter and AC Milan, as well as regional rivals, to the lead competition this season.
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