Top 10 most hated footballers of all-time as Zlatan gets set for Man Utd face-off

Published date18 March 2021
Ibrahimovic has recovered from an abductor injury which kept him out of the first leg and he is expected to feature in the second leg.

Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking forward to going up against the 39-year-old, saying: “He’s had a tremendous career, winning trophies everywhere he’s been. He’s been an influence and had an impact everywhere he’s been and a role model for so many.

“Playing at his age, at the level he is at, is also being a role model and being Zlatan. He’s never, ever stopped surprising or impressing people. Even just being back in the Swedish national team for the Euros just shows the hunger he has for football.”

Although Solskjaer may be full of praise for Ibrahimovic, the forward is certainly divisive and with that in mind, Daily Star Sport takes a look at ten of the most hated footballers of all-time.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

He may have won titles and scored goals wherever he has gone but Ibrahimovic has always been a polarising character.

From his constant referral to himself in the third person to his feuds with Pep Guardiola and LeBron James, Ibrahimovic has always divided opinion.

Sergio Ramos

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is certainly one of those players that fans love to hate, with the veteran defender holding multiple disciplinary records.

No player has received more red cards than Ramos in Champions League, La Liga and Real Madrid history, which perhaps best summarises the way he plays the game.

Luis Suarez

A prolific goalscorer, Luis Suarez's career has been marred by a series of on-field issues. The striker has been sanctioned on three separate occasions for biting an opponent and controversially prevented Ghana from scoring in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals with a deliberate handball. Ghana missed the resulting penalty and missed out on the semi-finals as a result.

Former Chelsea defender Frank Lebouef once said of Suarez: "He's a cheat and I hate the way he plays. If I had faced him, I would have done everything I could to get him off the pitch. What he did to Ghana at the World Cup, the two times he bit opponents. He's a bad example for young people."

Andoni Goikoetxea

Known as the 'The Butcher of Bilbao’, Andoni Goikoetxea infamously broke Diego Maradona’s ankle with a horrific foul. Maradona said of the challenge: “I just felt the impact, heard the sound – like a piece of wood cracking.”

Goikoetxea had also committed a horrific foul on Bernd Schuster a few years earlier, which left the German...

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