The latest tally by Zlatan Ibrahimovic? Two goals and two assists in the 5-0 PSG win over Sochaux. It’s rare to have a striker rack up so many assists like Ibrahimovic does, but it’s ever rarer to see someone lead the charts in both goals and assists at the same time.
With yet another impressive display, Ibrahimovic now has 13 league goals, putting him just ahead of teammate Edinson Cavani in what seems like the road to a very easy championship for Paris Saint-Germain, who have a +29 goal difference through the first 17 matches, opening a four point lead over Lille and five over Monaco, although the two still have a game in hand that might make things a lot more interesting.
The surprising bit of about Ibrahimovic’s season are the assists, leading Ligue 1 with 6. More than James Rodriguez of Monaco with 5 or his own teammate, Brazilian Lucas Moura, with 5 as well.
Looking back at Ibrahimovic’s career up to this point makes it a bit less surprising. He might not always bring the numbers he is now posting with PSG, but on every team that he’s played for the game always flowed through him. The only exception is Barcelona, which is probably why he didn’t last there for very long.
It’s always one of the flaws in Ibra’s teams, despite so many league championships – Netherlands, Italy, Spain and now France. He forces the one-team player label onto the club he’s playing for. He’s that dominant, that good, but sometimes, especially in Champions League knockout stages or the one Sweden just lost to Portugal in, it makes him and his teams that much predictable as well.
A two-edged sword? Something like that. Ibrahimovic isn’t going to change and become a player who is happy sharing that dominance with someone. Few players in the world can take on such a toll of being a playmaker and finisher all at once and carry on doing it so successfully and consistently for so many years. It might also cost him winning the Champions League title by the time he’s finished with the game, but something tells me he’s willing to live without one.