Barca Bla Bla: Zlatan Ibrahimovic Is As Good As Lionel Messi

"There is no better player in the world than Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Alongside Messi, he is the absolute strongest. He has character, determination and this year he has been decisive on many occasions." - Massimiliano Allegri

With AC Milan about to lose their lead in the Serie A to Inter and facing Champions League elimination at the hands of Tottenham, their manager seems to have been particularly affected.

According to Max Allegri, Ibrahimovic is on the same level as Lionel Messi. It seems clear that Allegri is being rather generous to Lionel Messi, who hasn't done anything to even be mentioned in the same sentence as the great Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Messi's 40 goals by early February are hardly setting world on fire, unlike Ibrahimovic, who has scored more than 40 goals on.... well, actually he has never even scored more than 30 goals in a single season, but who cares, really? Unlike Messi, Zlatan is a big game player and saves his goals for the biggest occasions; he has scored 26 goals in 82 European appearances, two of which in the knockout rounds. Messi's 31 goals in 50 appearances look pale in comparison.

Last season ended all doubts. Zlatan Ibrahimovic moved to Barcelona and outshined Lionel Messi week in, week out. Messi's jealousy was the reason why Ibraflop eventually got benched and 20-year-old Bojan Krkic took his place in the lineup. It's also the reason why Pedro, a winger in his first year as a professional player, ended up scoring more goals than Zlatan "I ran less than Valdés against Inter" Ibrahimovic.

Finally, their career numbers show that Ibraflop is much better than Leo Messi: at 23 years old, Messi, who's not even a striker, has only scored 167 goals in 247 matches. Ibrahimovic, at 29, has scored a lot more goals: 198 in 421 (!) matches!

Seriously Mr. Allegri, what drugs are you on and can I have some?

Ibrahimovic isn't even the best striker in the Serie A. That title belongs to Samuel Eto'o. You know, the guy who won three Champions League titles, scoring in two of the finals, the best African striker of all-time. The guy who has scored ten more goals than Ibrahimovic this season!

But is Ibraflop even the second best striker in Italy right now? 23-year-old Edinson Cavani would beg to differ. The Uruguyan has scored more goals in the Serie A than Ibraflop in all competitions, while having a much inferior supporting cast around him at Napoli. And what about Diego Milito, who did in one year what Zlatan tried (and failed to do) for three years: leading Inter to European glory with clutch goals?

Is he better than Cristiano Ronaldo? David Villa? Andrés Iniesta? The answer is NO!

Maybe Mr. Allegri was just trying to be funny, but some things are just too ridiculous to say. Next thing we know Juventus manager will be hailing Amauri as the best player in the world!

Massimiliano Allegri is the undisputed Barca Blaugranes Stinker of the Week!

Join Barca Blaugranes and become members of our website. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. Follow me on Twitter as well @Manueltraquete.