Zlatan Ibrahimovic Eviscerates Lionel Messi's Miami Teammates With Ruthless Assessment

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most quotable athletes in the history of sports, and despite having retired from the game for three years at this point, the legend is still delivering the goods.

For anyone who may have missed it - which is probably plenty of you - Lionel Messi and Inter Miami were eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup over the weekend after being dominated by Paris Saint-Germain 4-0.

In no world is Inter Miami supposed to legitimately compete with PSG, one of the best and biggest clubs in the world, and while Ibrahimovic is well aware of that fact, he still had quite the takeaway from the match.

Ibrahimovic, who played with Messi at Barcelona for some time, took notice of just how poor Messi's Miami teammates are. But instead of simply stating that they are bad or not nearly on Messi's level, he went full Ibra-mode with his assessment of the players.

"It wasn't Leo Messi who lost; it was Inter Miami," the former Sweden forward said. "Messi plays with statues, not teammates. He's surrounded by players who run as if they were carrying bags of cement.

"This isn't the Messi I know," he said. "If you put him in a real team, he'd go all-out. There are no coaches, no stars, not even players who understand how to move without the ball. If he were on a real team, any great team, you'd see the real lion."

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami lost to PSG in the FIFA Club World Cup. Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

How Ibrahimovic's brain even comes up with these sorts of lines, like "players who run as if they were carrying bags of cement" is a mystery, but man, is it entertaining stuff.

As for Messi's own takeaways from his team's tough loss to PSG, it's exactly what he expected heading into the match.

"It was the game we expected," Messi explained after Miami's loss. "We tried to do the best possible and we left a good image at the Club World Cup level."