Nothing to Prove? Or Everything?

Two sublime finishes from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the quarter-final first leg at the Emirates stadium last night will certainly have gone a long way to proving his doubters wrong. The big Swedish striker has been touted as one of the best players of his generation by many on the continent, but he has always had his critics, many of those in the United Kingdom. One of the biggest gripes the naysayers had with him was that he never scored in the Champions League knockout round. He changed that with a goal on German soil against Stuttgart in the last round. Another accusation levelled at him was that he never performed against English teams. Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia will have to disagree with that after his showing in north London. As for not doing it in the big matches, Ibracadabra already has a winning goal in El Clasico against Real Madrid to his name this season.

The superstar striker seems to have it all, with aerial ability, great control, no lack of pace and a powerful shot, yet it seems he will always have his detractors. With a demeanour that can come across almost as arrogant as Cristiano Ronaldo, and an attitude that sometimes resembles the laziness of Dimitar Berbatov, the 6 foot 5 inch forward is perhaps not the most likeable character. The man was Capocannoniere (top scorer) in Italy last season with 25 league goals for Internazionale. In fact, in every season he spent in that country, his team finished top of the league (albeit with Juventus, their titles were stripped after the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal). That's a total of five Serie A triumphs. On top of two Dutch Eredivisie titles won while at Ajax earlier in his career. So what exactly does Ibrahimovic have to prove?

His worth, maybe. Despite these achievements, and his silky playing style, the price Pep Guardiola was willing to pay for him sparked outrage across the football community. £40 million PLUS prolific striker Samuel Eto'o. Eto'o, many reckon, is better than Ibrahimovic, with 130 goals in 200 Barcelona appearances, including two in separate Champions League finals. He is also only a year older than his Swedish counterpart so the vast difference in value is highly questionable. The difference is certainly his playing style. Eto'o is a hard-working goal-grabbing striker. Ibrahimovic gets goals but adds a lot more creativity and panache, the kind of football that the Catalans adore. This perhaps, is what Pep Guardiola values so much. After all, the manager is no chump, within 18 months of taking over Barcelona he had won six different trophies - every single trophy the club had competed in during that time. Football's top coaches clearly rate him. Last season his manager at Inter, Jose Mourinho, claimed he was the best footballer in the world. With team-mate Lionel Messi comfortably holding that title at the moment, it might take a long time for the rest of the world to agree. But if he carries on scoring like he did at Arsenal, and lifts the Champions League trophy this May, he may well win over all his doubters...