Ibrahimovic: I was born old and will die young

Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he feels better than ever at the age of 34 and claims the secret to his success this season is “deciding he is very young”.

The veteran striker has enjoyed a magnificent campaign for PSG, who are still chasing a quadruple ahead of the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie at Manchester City on Tuesday.

Ibrahimovic has scored an astonishing 39 goals in 42 appearances this season and is out of contract at the end of the campaign, with the Sweden captain believing he is at his peak ahead of potentially hitting the open market.

“I have never been better,” he told UEFA. “The way I feel today is the best I have ever been. I was born old and I will die young. That is how it looks.

“I appreciate it [the special moments] because I think everything is in your head. It’s a mental thing. 

“You are as young and fresh as you think you are and that is what I have proved this season, by doing the things I am doing. So the age is just a number. 

“Your head decides how young you are and how old you are. So this year I decided I am very young.”

The Champions League is one trophy that has eluded Ibrahimovic in his glittering career and he hopes PSG are better equipped to reach the latter stages having fallen at the quarter-final stage in each of the last three seasons.

Ibrahimovic continued: “I play for trophies – whatever trophy I can win, I will do everything in my power, in my sacrifice, to win it. Absolutely. 

“So if we can win it, we want to win it. The players on the pitch want to win everything. That’s why we are here, to train, to focus, to prepare and to do it. So let’s see.

“Every time [the aim has been] to go further, but so far we haven’t gone further. You can always wish, but you need to [put in the performances] in the two games you play. 

“We are a better team this season. And we have more experience this season, so the club – no, not the club, but the new team, let’s say, that was reborn a couple of years ago – is more used to the quarter-finals.”

PSG’s tie against City is level at 2-2 going into the match at the Etihad Stadium.