This evening’s Coppa Italia Quarter-Final between Inter and AC Milan has been overshadowed by a heated clash between superstars Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku.
The former Manchester United teammates had to be stopped from fighting each other in a clash that was initially sparked by Lukaku’s angry reaction to a challenge from Milan captain Alessio Romagnoli.
Lukaku and Ibrahimovic went head-to-head for some time before they were separated, on that, Ibrahimovic can be clearly heard calling the Belgian a ‘little donkey’ numerous times.
Whilst Lukaku was being steered away from the clash, Ibrahimovic can also be heard telling his former teammate to go and do ‘voodoo’ – a form of Black Magic practiced in parts of Africa.
‘Donkey’ has long been a term that has been used to ridicule massive target-men style forwards like Lukaku.
Little donkey??? #CoppaItalia #InterMilan #Ibrahimovic vs #Lukaku
Hate this guy seriously?? pic.twitter.com/WZmoE4fEFp
— Nexho_11 (@Nexho__11) January 26, 2021
Zlatan and Lukaku are going at it ? pic.twitter.com/yMLFI72tiz
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 26, 2021
The full incident can be seen here, with it being reignited as the teams headed towards the tunnel for halftime:
Pictures from Blue Zoom, Rai Sport and ESPN.
It’s clear that both have crossed the line in this clash, whether they have their reasons or not – this is not how Italian football should be represented across the world in it’s biggest and most famed matchup.
The altercation saw the pair both speak English to one another, the duo are widely known as fluent in multiple languages.