On Friday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic confirmed reports that this is his final season with PSG with a brief yet typically Zlatan post on his social media accounts.
My last game tomorrow at Parc des Princes. I came like a king, left like a legend pic.twitter.com/OpLL3wzKh0
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) May 13, 2016
A bold claim from a man who is beloved for making bold claims. But if anyone doubted that progression, Zlatan offered one last reminder of the truth in that statement by scoring twice against Nantes to claim the Ligue 1 single-season scoring record in his final match. Zlatan entered the match with 36 goals on the season — one behind Carlos Bianchi’s PSG record, which has stood since 1978.
In the 17th minute, Zlatan opened the scoring and matched Bianchi’s record and in the 89th minute, he closed the scoring and surpassed it (reminder: he’s 34 years old). And that, my friends, is how you live up to your tweets. And, it turns out, the shirts your children wear to greet you when you come off the pitch.
Most children of footballers have “Daddy” on the back of their shirts, but Zlatan’s kids… pic.twitter.com/CXn10ruysR
— Brooks Peck (@BrooksDT) May 14, 2016
Zlatan leaves PSG having won the league in each of his four seasons (to put that in perspective, PSG had only won Ligue 1 twice in their 41-year history before he arrived) and having scored more goals than anyone else in the club’s history (154 in 179 matches). He’ll have a chance to lift the Coupe de France for the second time in his final match with the club next week.
Though the Champions League title continues to elude him, he almost single handedly brought international relevance back to Ligue 1 and deserves all the praise he heaps upon himself. Zlegend.
Zlatan’s kids have ‘King’ and ‘Legend’ printed on their shirts.
Zlatan has ‘God’ on his.
Zlatan’s record of winning league titles is truly legendary. I can’t wait to see which league he chooses to win next season!
154 goals in 179 matches at 30 and over is just insane.