Zlatan shrugs off fixture congestion after United stumble

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has dismissed talk that a fixture pile up is starting to catch up with Manchester United after they dropped points in the race for the top four.

The Swede missed a vital penalty as United were held 1-1 by Bournemouth on Saturday, and may receive a FA suspension after he appeared to elbow Cherries defender Tyrone Mings.

United are still in three competitions and have already lifted the EFL Cup this season, and on Thursday they travel to Russia to face FC Rostov in their Europa league last-16 first leg.

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

Four days later, United visit Premier League leaders Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals before they host FC Rostov at Old Trafford and visit Middlesbrough in the Premier League– a run which sees them play four games in ten days.

But veteran striker Ibrahimovic refuses to accept it is having a negative impact on their season.

“When you don’t win games, you try to find a lot of excuses,” he said.

“If we had won easily, nobody would have even asked if we play a lot of games, if we are tired or if we are not playing well.

“It’s like the cup final: we didn’t play well but we won. When you win it covers the things you want to ask, but we play a lot of games and I love to play football. It’s my passion.

“Every game we play, I enjoy them. It is a lot of games but it is not an excuse because I have done this for 15 years, and I have always played 50 to 70 games a year.”