Zlatan Ibrahimovic showed he never does things the easy way as he hitched a ride on a motorbike to make it to an Italian music festival after being stuck on the motorway for three hours.
The enigmatic forward revealed he had convinced an AC Milan fan to take him 60km away to the stage at Sanremo after being held up by an accident, as he made it to the ceremony to perform an awkward duet with Bologna boss Sinisa Mihajlovic.
The veteran can be relieved he arrived in one piece too, after being informed by the motorbike driver that it was his first time on the motorway.
'There was an accident on the motorway. After three hours in the car I told my driver to open the door to let me out,' the 39-year-old explained.
'I stopped a motorcyclist and asked him, can you take me to Sanremo?
'Luckily he was a Milan fan. When we got here he told me, 'That was my first time on the motorway'. I've got the video!'
In his typical imperious form, he joked he was missed at Sanremo after missing Wednesday's ceremony and insisted 'the festival must come to Zlatan'.
'I know you missed me yesterday but I'm back now. I was in Milan yesterday… although you could have come to me!
'We could have had the festival at mine. Rule number 4: if Zlatan can't go to the festival, the festival must come to Zlatan. There's room in Zlatan's house.'
He later took part in a rendition of Italian classic La Vagabondo alongside Mihajlovic, and looked a little shy on stage as one of the presenters passed him the microphone to sing along - only to fluff his words as he laughed off the embarrassing moment.
The Swedish star is close friends with the former AC Milan boss - who has recently battled leukemia, with the pair sharing Balkan roots.
Mihajlovic revealed the pair were set to sing the song together last month, admitting he was not expecting fireworks on stage from their partnership and adding that his pal was a 'terrible singer'.
'The two things I do least well are singing and dancing,' he said. 'Ibra is also a terrible singer. At least we'll make people laugh.'
Speaking in November, Ibrahimovic spoke of his friendship with Mihaljlovic - who coached him when he was assistant manager at Inter Milan between 2006 and 2008. He said he was tempted to join him at Bologna last summer and would have played for him for free.
I think Sinisa is a great man, I was lucky enough to know him as a person,' he said at the unveiling of his biography, 'La partita della vita'.
'We didn't like each other at the beginning but when I knew him at Inter it was love from the very first day. I used to say: 'If I'd go to war, Sini would be in first row, myself in the second'.
'Sinisa was stronger than me,' he said of his cancer fight. 'I told him: 'Tell me what you need and I will do it, I would do everything.
'He did everything he could to sign to bring me to Bologna, he used the right words but I was honest with him, I don't run as I used to do before.
'Mihajlovic said I would only need to wait up front and I told him I would have joined Bologna for free only for him, then Milan arrived.
Ibrahimovic has been a guest at the Sanremo festival this week as he recovers from a thigh injury and has been forced to sit out of Milan's Europa League clash against his former club Manchester United.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com