Zlatan Ibrahimovic claims ‘lions don’t recover like humans’ after making comeback from injury in Manchester United’s 4-1 win over Newcastle

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC put his recovery from knee surgery down to the fact he is a lion not a human.

Fellow superstar Paul Pogba also returned from injury last night to score in Manchester United’s 4-1 win over Newcastle.

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Ibrahimovic, 36, made his triumphant Old Trafford comeback from a cruciate ligament op when he came on after 77 minutes.

And the Swedish hitman said: “This feels special. Different day, same quality.

“Was I worried about returning? No. Lions don’t recover like humans. I train hard, sacrifice a lot. I play in my head, my knee just needs to follow.

“It was not easy. Especially in my case because I was on top, I got injured and one day to another I could not do anything more. It was not like I went on vacation so it was not easy.”

Ibra was injured in April and thought that his United days were over.

But he signed a new deal in August and added: “As soon as I signed you start to focus on the team and you want to participate in the games, every game. Especially with my mentality.

“It’s about coming back and making a statement. I have been training a lot, training hard and I am here today.

“I am just thankful that I can play football again.”

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Pogba, 24, was returning after missing 12 games with a hamstring injury.

He dedicated his first goal since August 19 to migrants in Libya being sold as slaves.

He tweeted: “While very happy to be back, my prayers go to those suffering slavery in #Libya. May Allah be by your side and may this cruelty come to an end!”