Behind the scenes of the chaos at AC Milan » Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one step away from Allegri for a bizarre reason
Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Tuesday, 26 May 2026, 20:55 / Updated Tuesday, 26 May 2026 20:55
After AC Milan missed out on qualification for the next season's Champions League, owner Gerry Cardinale initiated a veritable revolution at the club and sacked the entire technical management: coach Massimiliano Allegri, sporting director Igli Tare, technical director Geoffrey Moncada and chief executive Giorgio Furlani.
Italian daily “Il Corriere della Sera” revealed two incredible behind-the-scenes incidents following the sackings, including an altercation between Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the owner's senior adviser, and coach Massimiliano Allegri, which came close to turning into physical violence.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was one step away from Massimiliano Allegri
The first incident took place in a restaurant, where the long-standing animosity between Allegri and Ibrahimovic fully escalated.
Although the pretext was a discussion about a third goalkeeper for next season, the verbal conflict became so heated that Igli Tare had to physically separate Allegri and Ibrahimovic to prevent a possible brawl.
The second event happened in the match against Cagliari, when Alexis Saelemaekers scored the opening goal for Milan. Of all the officials in the box, only sports director Tare rejoiced, while the rest of the management remained unreacted.
Max Allegri // PHOTO: Getty Images
The reason for this reaction is bizarre: a win and qualification for the Champions League would have made the dismissal of Allegri and Tare considerably more difficult, so the rest of the management, led by Ibrahimovic, would have wanted their own team to fail in order to be able to fire them more easily.
Following the 1-2 defeat at home to Cagliari in the last leg, AC Milan missed out on Champions League qualification, finishing 5th, one point behind Como.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic played under Massimiliano Allegri, also at AC Milan, in the period 2010-2012. The “Devils” at San Siro then won the Serie A title in the 2010-2011 season, a season in which the Swedish striker scored 14 goals in 29 appearances.
The final standings of the Serie A season
