Ibrahimovic: Celtic Park is the best (video)
Joining others ranging from Lionel Messi to Paolo Maldini the Swedish striker told how playing against Celtic was the most awesome atmosphere he had ever experienced.
Ibrahimovic has spent over a decade playing for top clubs in Italy and Spain but can’t forget the night he played against Celtic as a young striker with Ajax.
With Celtic winning the first leg 3-1 at the Amsterdam Arena the return leg was a celebration night as the hoops qualified for the group stages of the Champions League for the first time.
Recalling that night 12 years he said: “When I played in Ajax and came to Scotland and Celtic. Then played “Henke” (Larsson) there and it was something the Champions League qualifiers, I think.
“Then when I got out on the pitch and the match began, I tried to communicate with my team player. But I heard nothing. The audience had such a mood. I did not hear what my team players said, if they called me or even the slightest, because it was such a beautiful and awesome atmosphere. It’s probably the best I have seen on the pitch.”
Celtic lost 1-0 to Ajax but qualified for the Champions League where they won all three home matches against Rosenborg, Porto and Juventus but lost out on a place in the knock out phase.
At the end of the 2001/02 season Ibrahimovic played with Henrik Larsson and Johan Mjallby at the World Cup in South Korea and Japan but it seems that an August night in 2001 in the east end of Glasgow is one that he’ll never forget.