Zlatan Ibrahimovic Out For a Month
Mandatory Credit: Paul Frederiksen-USA TODAY Sports
Paris Saint Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to miss three to four weeks with a hamstring injury. Ibrahimovic suffered the injury in the second half of the first leg Champions League tie with Chelsea FC on an innocuous play in midfield. The striker stretched to pass the ball out wide and tried to sprint to follow the play but pulled up, grabbed his hamstring, and fell to the turf. The announcers assumed it was a dead leg at first but replays showed that it was a non-contact injury and as we all know those are usually the worst.
Paris St Germain president Nasser al Khelaifi on Ibrahimovic’s injury:
"“He won’t play at Chelsea. It’s impossible. We are waiting for the test results but I think he will be out for at least four weeks.”"
This is bad news for the PSG fans and neutrals excited to see the big striker at Stamford Bridge but good news for everyone cheering on the Blues. Hamstring injuries usually take three to four weeks to heal so Ibrahimovic will certainly miss the next leg of the tie. Our own striker in Samuel Eto’o suffered a similar injury against Arsenal but looks to be ahead of schedule with his recovery. Ibrahimovic may yet recover in two weeks rather than four, but with the second leg coming up on April 8th, he will certainly miss that.
The Swede was largely ineffective against Chelsea in the first leg but he is always a dangerous man with a penchant for scoring spectacular goals. Ibrahimovic could be kept quiet for an entire match but one moment of brilliance from the striker and Chelsea’s net could have bulged once again. His injury will see fellow striker Edinson Cavani take up the center forward role rather than playing out wide and PSG has a plethora of attacking options to bring on instead of Ibrahimovic. Lucas Moura, who came on for the Swede, was a dangerous presence and caused Chelsea problems with his pace and directness. The news of Ibrahimovic’s injury may make the task of Chelsea advancing slightly easier but not by much.
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