Lionel Messi: Zlatan Ibrahimovic defends Inter Miami star after thrashing to Paris-Saint Germain at Club World Cup – ‘There are no coaches, no stars’

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who played alongside Lionel Messi at Barcelona, has criticised the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner's Inter Miami team-mates in the wake of their elimination from the FIFA Club World Cup. Inter Miami lost 4-0 to UEFA Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the tournament. The French side will play Bayern Munich in the competition's quarter-final.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has criticised Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami team-mates in the wake of the Florida side’s elimination from the FIFA Club World Cup.

On Sunday, European champions Paris Saint-Germain breezed past Inter Miami 4-0 to set up a heavyweight Club World Cup quarter-final with Bayern Munich.

PSG scored four first-half goals to dispatch the Florida outfit, who sit sixth in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference.

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After the game, Ibrahimovic, who played alongside Messi at Barcelona, was unimpressed by the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s Miami team-mates.

"It wasn't Leo Messi who lost; it was Inter Miami," the ex-Sweden striker told French publication Foot Mercato.

"Messi plays with statues, not team-mates. He's surrounded by players who run as if they were carrying bags of cement."

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"This isn't the Messi I know. If you put him in a real team, he'd go all-out.

"There are no coaches, no stars, not even players who understand how to move without the ball. If he were on a real team, any great team, you'd see the real lion.

"Messi plays alone because he loves the game, because he can still do what 99% of players can't. But this isn't the Messi I know."

At 38, Messi showed flashes of his best form against PSG and had four attempts at goal, two of which were on target.

"It was the game we expected," Messi told DS Sport after the loss to PSG. "We tried to do the best possible, and we left a good image at the Club World Cup level."

The Argentina skipper added that Inter Miami’s elimination was harder to take given his side’s late capitulation against Palmeiras in the final group stage game, when they threw away a 2-0 lead in the dying embers.

"We remain with the sentiment against Palmeiras that winning the game 2-0 and drawing we had to face PSG, which was more complicated," Messi explained.

"Getting the draw in the final minutes left a sour taste."

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