Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Inter Milan—Who Will Play in the CL Final?

Last summer Barcelona and Inter Milan sealed one of the biggest transfer deals in football history. Zlatan Ibrahimovic left the Nerazzurri for the Blaugrana with Samuel Eto’o heading in the opposite direction in a deal worth a total of €66m—making the Swede the most expensive player in the history of the Catalan club.

Being one of Serie A’s biggest profiles, Ibrahimovic had made it clear very early on that only Barcelona could lure him out of the Italian Peninsula. According to the prolific hitman, his dream of lifting the eluding Champions League trophy would be greater with the Catalan side which had just done the unthinkable by winning the treble.

Little did he expect that his former side, which had not qualified past the last 16 for three consecutive years, would pose any kind of threat to him along the way as he kissed the emblem of his new jersey on his official unveiling at Barca.

Despite losing the team’s most integral player, Inter soon transformed from its one-man show with acquisitions such as Lucio, Eto’o, Thiago Motta, Diego Milito, and Wesley Sneijder to emerge as a hard-working unit with an insatiable desire and hunger to succeed.

While Ibrahimovic got off to a flying start at his new club, the Nerazzurri shot up the table in usual fashion. Nevertheless, the Champions League draw was around the corner and in an ironic twist of fate; both Barcelona and Inter were drawn in the same group alongside Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev—forcing the Swede to his inevitable return to the Giuseppe Meazza only weeks after his high-profile transfer.

The former fan favorite was, as expected, received by a hostile crowd jeering at his every attempt with the ball. Ibrahimovic failed to impress in the first leg which ended in a goalless draw and was later unable to play the return leg in which Barcelona won by a 2-0 scoreline.

As things progressed, both clubs went on to qualify for the knock-out stages of Europe’s elite club competition despite very tough competition.

Just as predicted Barcelona dismantled both Stuttgart and Arsenal with Ibrahimovic once again scoring in the knock out stages of the competition as they side reached the semifinal.

Having been drawn against Chelsea in the final 16, few believed Inter to make it past the first knock-out stage. However, the Nerazzurri, with former Blues coach José Mourinho pulling the strings, went on the beat the West London side in both legs followed by two 1-0 victories against CSKA Moscow in the quarterfinal.

As fate would see it, Ibrahimovic would be forced to return to his former ground for a second time before Barca would be able to book an eventual spot in the final.

On April 20th, Ibra returned to the Giuseppe Meazza once more with Barcelona once again playing the role of favorites. Neither this time did the gangly Swede manage to have the impact he desired. Instead the forward was substituted at the hour mark in front of a gleeful crowd as Inter secured a shocking 3-1 victory against the reigning champions.

Tonight Josep Guardiola’s men welcome José Mourinho’s dito at the Nou Camp in order to decide which team will face Bayern Münich in the final.  Unless the Blaugrana are able to overturn the deficit 3-1 in front of a stadium packed with 100,000 supporters in one of the most anticipated games of the year, Ibrahimovic could, ironically, see the team which he left in order to win the Champions League go on to lift the prestigious trophy come May.