AC Milan’s attack will be led tonight by two centre-forwards that Juventus know well in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Mandzukic.
As MilanLive writes, Ibrahimovic landed for the first time in Italy in the ranks of Juventus back in summer 2004, when the very young and promising Swedish striker chose to say yes to Luciano Moggi and was signed from Ajax.
Ibra remained in Juventus for two years but the Calciopoli scandal came along and he left for rivals Inter once the Bianconeri were relegated. He won two Scudetti in Turin (later removed by the sports court), with a record of 23 official goals in 70 appearances.
Ibra could also have returned to Juventus many years later such as back in August 2016 when they were looking for a centre-forward who could alternate with Gonzalo Higuain for the team then led by Massimiliano Allegri.
At the time Ibrahimovic was still banging in goals for PSG but his contract was expiring, so Juve (as well as Milan) took an interest but in the end he opted for an experience in the Premier League by ending up at Mourinho’s Manchester United.
Mandzukic meanwhile was the symbol of a strong, combative, ruthless Juventus under Allegri, playing for the Old Lady between 2015 and 2019 with 118 matches and 31 goals. His farewell came when Maurizio Sarri arrived and it was not particularly popular.
Back in January, Mandzukic – who had just freed himself from Al-Duhail in Qatar – offered himself to Pirlo’s Juve as they were looking for an alternative to Morata, but they never seriously thought about the Croatian.
