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What's the story?
LA Galaxy superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic has asserted that the Major League Soccer is not a match for Europe's top five leagues.
He added that while he shared the stage with players of the same calibre as him in Europe, he feels like "a Ferrari among Fiats" in the United States-based football league.
In case you didn't know...
Ibrahimovic enjoyed a glittering career before his move to LA Galaxy in 2018. The forward has played for some of the most successful European clubs including Inter Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Manchester United.
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In the course of his career, the controversial Swede netted 520 senior goals for club and country and boasts of being Sweden's all-time top-scorer with 62 goals to his name.
The 37-year-old certainly justified his big move to LA Galaxy and has been instrumental in taking the club to third place in the Western Conference this season.
The former Manchester United forward has netted 13 goals and tallied 3 assists in 16 games so far this campaign and sits at third place in the goalscoring charts, behind Josef Martinez of Atlanta and current top-scorer Carlos Vela of rivals, LAFC.
The heart of the matter
In typical fashion, Ibrahimovic has claimed that the players in the MLS need to step up their game to get to his level adding that the league does not have the same intensity as the ones in Europe.
In an interview with ESPN, he said,
"MLS is not the level of Europe, to be honest. Before, I played with players either on my level or close to it. Which makes the game connect easier."
"Here, I am like a Ferrari among Fiats. And it can happen that the Ferrari can become the Fiat, or the Fiat can become the Ferrari."
"I had the same issue with the national [Swedish] team, though not as much. I said, 'I don't accept it. I don't accept when the ball doesn't arrive or arrives too late. I want them to come up to my level.' All of this makes me slow down a bit. The game here [in America] could be so much faster, so much more tactical, so much more rhythmic."
What's next?
LA Galaxy will face cross-town rivals LAFC in a much-awaited derby later today.
