Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Behavior Hurting PSG's Title Challenge and Reputation

On Sunday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain were outplayed by Girondins de Bordeaux at the Stade Chaban Delmas and although goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic nearly saved a point, the home side never gave up and won a very entertaining contest 3-2.

It was a game filled with incident, drama and just about everything you want from a football match.

However, matters on the pitch were pushed to the backburner when it emerged that PSG’s talisman, Ibrahimovic, had gone on a foul-mouthed tirade against the match officials, and seemingly against France as a country. (Warning: Strong language):

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avec le son https://t.co/wvfSXgAJYp via @infosportplus

— philippe (@philousports) March 15, 2015"

Initial reports were later found as incorrect. The Swedish striker was quick to heavily criticise the linesman for a back-pass call that wasn’t given in PSG’s favour and declared that he hadn’t seen a referee so poor in his 15-year playing career.

Interestingly, there was no mention of the favourable decision to award PSG a penalty for a foul on Ezequiel Lavezzi, with Ibrahimovic scoring from that poor decision.

Ibrahimovic’s outburst will land him with a three- or four-game suspension, via Herve Penot of L’Equipe (in French) but due to the French disciplinary system, any action won’t be taken until April 9, and it won't apply until April 14.

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RMC report Zlatan Ibrahimovic looking at a minimum of 4 games suspended for referee rant. But likely to only be banned from April 6 onwards.

— Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip) March 17, 2015"

The striker will therefore be able to play against Lorient, Marseille and Saint-Etienne in the league, and the Coupe de la Ligue final against SC Bastia.

Games that he would miss would be likely against Nice and Nantes away, and Lille and Guingamp at the Parc des Princes. Returning for the last two games of the season against Montpellier and Stade de Reims.

The debate on whether PSG play better or worse with the Swede in the lineup will continue for the rest of the season, and if they miss out to Lyon or Marseille, there will be an argument to be made that his outburst cost PSG the title.

There is still a lot of football to be played before we can assign blame.

However, there is a bigger issue at hand, and that is the damage Zlatan’s behaviour is having on PSG’s long-term image. David Beckham arrived in Paris as one of the biggest superstar’s in the world, and despite his fading ability on the pitch, he carried himself with class and the sort of elegance Parisians would be proud of.

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Ibrahimovic: 'My comments were not directed at people living in France. I was very angry...' http://t.co/6glgj65rrK pic.twitter.com/DNN3t5gY4B

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) March 16, 2015"

To suggest that France does not deserve PSG is absurdly naïve, as a club formed in 1970. They are still looking for a place at French football’s top table. To suggest that they are already bigger than the league is nothing short of disrespectful.

In their short history, they have now won as many French titles as OGC Nice. Marseille, Nantes, Saint-Etienne, Monaco and Lyon have accumulated a mere 42 titles between them, 12 of those before PSG were even a club.

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According to Zlatan, France doesn't deserve a club founded in 1970 with 4 league titles. Can we keep OM, OL, Sainté...Ligue 1 will be fine

— Andrew Gibney (@Gibney_A) March 15, 2015"

Those five clubs have helped shape what the French league is today, not to mention the two European Cup finals that Stade de Reims reached in the 1950s.

In their current guise, PSG are building a history, and there is little doubt that they will go on to shape the future landscape of the league, but players like Ibrahimovic do not help the side from the capital build an image that the French public can respect and support.

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Boss' backing. Laurent Blanc backs @Ibra_official comments on referee: http://t.co/ER62lPAlza pic.twitter.com/enDWfYOBLX

— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) March 16, 2015"

Compare the behaviour of Ibrahimovic against both Chelsea and Bordeaux. After he was sent off at Stamford Bridge, you would understand the Swede being upset about being dismissed from the game after just 30 minutes, but after the game there was no attack on the referees, no tirade of abuse.

After the match, in a jovial mood—it does help that PSG advanced—all he did was call the Chelsea players babies. The stark truth is that he would never act that way in a Champions League game because he is smart enough to know that he wouldn’t get away with it, and sanctions would be heavily enforced by UEFA.

This petulant behaviour all started with sporting director Leonardo’s childish push on referee Alexandre Castro after a game against Valenciennes. PSG and the Brazilian had the cheek to appeal his initial ban, with Leonardo claiming he was pushed, although video evidence clearly showed otherwise.

Leading from his example, it continues down to Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani failing to report for winter training in Morocco and continuing to undermine Laurent Blanc’s position as head coach.

You only have to look at the body language of club captain Thiago Silva on Sunday afternoon. When Zlatan erupted, Silva didn’t dare say two words to the forward. If it had been anyone else, quite rightly the captain would have pulled rank and silenced his teammate.

However, this is not Javier Pastore. This is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the true leader and spokesman of Paris Saint-Germain.

At some point in the near future, both Ibrahimovic and Silva will be gone, and PSG will be left with a small legacy to show for their exploits. They may still win a fifth Ligue 1 title this season, but it will take a lot longer to get rid of the bad taste in their mouth as they continue to try to become one of Europe's elite clubs.