FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.04.2010 12:14

Best of Ibra in Europe

Edgar Fornós

Against Arsenal, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two goals for the first time in the final stages of the Champions League. He did score braces for Ajax and Inter, but that was in the group stages.

Before the Barça match at the Emirates Stadium, Ibra said he likes to do his talking on the pitch, not off it. And so he did. The Swede scored the two goals that leave plenty of room for optimism ahead of the second leg at the Camp Nou.

Two class goals

Both times he beat Almunia were spectacular occasions and have taken his overall tally in Europe up to four. His first European goal for Barça was not enough to avoid shock home defeat to Rubin Kazan and his second was in Stuttgart, to put Guardiola’s side in a good position for the return in Barcelona.

Other braces

Before Wednesday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has scored in four games in a row, had scored twice in three Champions League encounters. When he was at Ajax he scored two games in a group match against Lyon in 2002/03. Then in 2007/08, he was on target twice for Inter Milan against both Holland’s PSV and CSKA Moscow. But he had never done likewise in a knockout round.