Zlatan Ibrahimovic could well make his return to the field tonight against Torino more than 260 days after his last competitive games.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recall that Milan have been without their leader since May 22, the date that the 19th Scudetto was won away from home against Sassuolo. Zlatan did all of the training together with his team-mates this week and is in the squad for tonight’s game, during which he could play for a few minutes.
In the first part of the season he cheered off the pitch for every goal, building his return one brick at a time, and now he is closing in on a return that once again proves his resilience and determination to keep going at the highest level.
Last October, in an interview with CNN, Ibra recalled the ordeal of his knee problem in the last few months of the season: “I drained my knee once a week for six months. Painkillers every day. I barely slept because of the pain, I’ve never been in so much pain on and off the pitch.”
His last goal dates back to the 3-0 win against Venezia away from home, back on 9 January 2022, which was one of eight goals he scored in 2021-22 in addition to the assist for Tonali’s last minute winner vs. Lazio at the Olimpico.
It is not his first difficult moment, though. From May to September 2021 he was out for 126 days out, to resolve another knee injury with an arthroscopy. He returned to the field on 12 September, with that 2-0 goal against Lazio now famous for his sudden sprint, from midfield, with an untied shoe.
Before he rejoined Milan the Swede had his issues too, such as in April 2017 when a bad cruciate injury forced Zlatan to miss the last few games of the Europa League won by Manchester United. After 210 days he came back with a new conviction, and Milan need the same now.
