There was certainly no shortage of drama in Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s third night at the Sanremo Festival as the striker arrived late due to problems on the motorway.
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Ibra arrived late for his third night and explained to the presenter the reason for the delay (via GIFN): “There was an accident on the motorway. After three hours in the car I told my driver to open the door to let me out. I stopped a motorcyclist and asked him, can you take me to Sanremo?”
“It’s a good thing he was a Milanista – so for 60km he drove me here. When we got here he told me it was the first time he’d been on the motorway!”
The 39-year-old then got his phone out to show a video of himself on the bike to prove it was real.
The presenter asked: “So where were you last night, Zlatan?”
Ibra replaied: “I was at home, in Milan – why didn’t you come?”
Presenter: “But there’s so many of us here!”
Ibra: “Rule number four: Zlatan doesn’t go to the festival, the festival comes to Zlatan.”
Bologna boss Siniša Mihajlović came onto the stage to a warm welcome, and the presenter remarked: “You look very elegant Siniša.” Mihajlović responded: “I look like Bond, James Bond!”
Presenter: “So listen, what do you think of my festival?” Ibra: “Excuse me? My festival.”
Ibra actually got a red card for headbutting Mihajlović back when he was at Juventus, so the duo were asked to explain their friendship: “When Zlatan came to Inter I wanted to return the favour. Instead we became friends.”
Mihajlović: “There is one thing that Zlatan envies me for, that he hasn’t won yet.”
Presenter: “What’s that?”
Mihajlović: “The Champions League. There are those who have played in it and then those who have won it. He’s played in it, I’ve won it.”
Presenter: “Zlatan, who has been your greatest rival?”
Ibrahimović: “I like Paolo Maldini, he was aggressive but always honest. Chiellini is another, there are many.”
Mihajlović: “What he does is sign for the teams where those players are, so he doesn’t have to play them!”
There was then a touching moment as Mihajlović recalled his battle with leukaemia: “I never thought anything of the sort would happen to me, then suddenly from one day to the next my life had changed. I was down for 2-3 days, then I got up and threw out the negative energy and started to think positive.”
Ibrahimovic also spoke about discovering that his close friend was suffering: “When I heard the news, I didn’t have the strength to call him. A few days had passed, and when I called him I wasn’t able to speak, instead it was him reassuring me. It was an experience because usually it’s me giving to others.”
Then, they had a duet…
😂 Zlatan and Mihajlovic dueting? We’ll just leave this here…
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) March 4, 2021
