At 39, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still the worst nightmare for Serie A teams

MILAN: Last week it was an acrobatic overhead winner that belied his 39 years.

This week it was a towering header in stoppage time that secured AC Milan a 2-2 draw with Hellas Verona on Sunday and a two-point lead atop Serie A entering the international break.

Game after game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic keeps showing that his markers are defenceless against him inside the penalty area.

So much so that Ibrahimovic was asked if he thought that Italian defenders had dropped in level in the eight years between his first and second stints with Milan.

“Or maybe Ibra is stronger,” was his reply, with a laugh.

The Swedish great scored braces against Bologna, bitter rival Inter Milan in the derby, and Roma this season. His eight goals in five matches -- he missed two games after testing positive for the coronavirus -- top the Italian league’s scoring chart.

“I think he can play until he’s 45 in our league,” retired Italy defender Giuseppe Bergomi said last weekend. “I really mean that.”

Having lost 3-0 at home to Lille in the Europa League on Thursday to end a 24-match unbeaten run in all competitions, Milan fell behind 2-0 to Verona before Franck Kessie — whose flicked shot was deflected in off a defender — and Ibrahimovic rallied the Rossoneri.

Antonin Barak and Mattia Zaccagni scored for Verona.

It wasn’t all easy for Ibrahimovic this time, though. He missed a penalty with a miserable effort high over the bar at his first chance to equalize, then ruined a potential equalizer from Davide Calabria with a handball before finally finding the target three minutes into added time by leaping over a defender.

“Fortunately the break for international duty is here, because I need rest,” Ibrahimovic said. “I didn’t have the sharpness and usual determination I have in front of goal. I just felt like I wasn’t all there.”

Milan is two points ahead of Sassuolo, three ahead of Napoli and Roma and four ahead of Juventus and Atalanta.