“Call your mother”, “Let’s go inside you b*tch” - When Zlatan Ibrahimovic clashed with Chelsea star in explosive altercation

Former Manchester United teammates Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku engaged in a war of words when they faced each other in the Milan derby in the 2020-21 season. Serie A fans will recall the Coppa Italia quarter-final at San Siro in January of that season where both the strikers had to be separated near the halfway mark.

The altercation began when the Belgian striker, playing for Internazionale at the time, had an argument with AC Milan's young midfielder Alexis Saelemaekers. Ibrahimovic, in his role as the leader of the team, stepped in to protect his young teammate and told Lukaku to pipe down.

The Swede's intervention was not taken too kindly by Lukaku who asked Zlatan 'what he would do if he doesn't' (pipe down).

“I’m going to break every bone in your body if you open your mouth,” Ibra immediately retorted to Lukaku's comment (via GOAL).

This triggered the former Chelsea striker, which led to the players bumping heads and trading insults.

“Go do your voodoo sh*t, you little donkey. Go do your voodoo sh*t. Call your mother,” the Swede was heard shouting at Lukaku, a reference to an incident from the Belgian's Everton days.

"Well, let's go inside you b*tch. We will see," Lukaku reponded.

The volley of words continued with the Inter striker demanding Lukaku to repeat what he said.

"What did you say? Who? Who?" asked Ibrahimovic.

Lukaku was heard mouthing the word 'b*tch' while walking off the pitch at half-time and ending the verbal battle with, "F*ck you and your wife, you little b*tch." as Ibrahimovic went into the dressing room laughing at the incident.

On the pitch, however, the Belgian striker had the last laugh as he scored Inter's equalizer before Christian Eriksen's last-minute free-kick saw Inter beat Milan 2-1 to qualify for the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Moreover, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who, along with Lukaku, was booked in the altercation, was sent off by referee Paolo Valeri in the second half.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic v/s Romelu Lukaku - A look at the history between the two strikers

Tensions between the two players started when they were competing for the No. 9 position at Manchester United. Although the Belgian mentioned that he learned a lot from the Swede, there was a 50-50 challenge between the two in a training session where he felt the full force of Ibra's challenge.

On Inter signing Lukaku in 2019, Ibrahimovic joked about Lukaku's control technique.

"Don't expect good technique from Lukaku. At Manchester United, we made a bet: 'I'll give you £50 for every decent first touch you make,'" Zlatan revealed in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.

"For the record, he never accepted the bet! Perhaps he was afraid of losing..." he concluded.

The heated rivalry between both former teammates took a new turn when the Inter striker tried to take over Ibra's crown as the king of Milan, a title he bestowed upon himself during his first stint at AC Milan between 2010 and 2012.

After scoring twice in a 4-2 derby win for Inter in February 2020, Lukaku took a dig at Ibrahimovic by calling himself the new king in Milan.

"There's a new king in town," Lukaku wrote on Twitter.

Lukaku's tweet which was subsequently deleted

Zlatan did not take to this kindly and after scoring twice in a 2-1 win the following season, sent out his own message to his former teammate turned rival.

"Milano never had a king, they have a GOD," wrote the Swede.