The Croatian attacker, who is set to lead the line for Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, has spoken about having to calm his rebellious nature at the Allianz Arena
Mario Mandzukic has revealed how he has had to curb his bad behaviour at Bayern Munich and compared himself to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The striker, who is set to lead the attack for the Bavarians against Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s Champions League final, suggested he might be more of a wildchild than Mario Balotelli, whose antics off the pitch are well publicised.
“I’m a fighter like Ibrahimovic, my idol,” he told Tuttosport. “
“I do not know if my namesake at AC Milan [Balotelli] has committed theft on a train, drove without headlights in the night or constantly ran away and withdrew from the Under-21 squad. These were the sins of my youth, when I was still playing in Croatia.
“On Tuesday I turned 27 and if I do certain things in Germany that I used to do, I’d get arrested immediately!”
The Croatia international usurped Mario Gomez as Bayern first-choice striker this season with fantastic performances domestically and continentally even though he admits his diet has often been questionable and his reactions to being told to stay fit, extreme.
“I’ve always been against taxing diets,” Mandzukic said. “Once a Dinamo Zagreb coach saw me while I was eating a pizza and severely scolded me, telling me that I would be fat, I had to think about my health.
“In response, I ordered 10 pizzas and managed to eat 5, so next time he will have a strong think before treating his players in a bad way.”