Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a nightmare for defenders to deal with, combining his unbelievable physicality with his world-class technical ability.

The former Sweden international was one of the most dominant strikers of his era, scoring over 500 career goals for club and country. It was very rare that any defender had an easy day when taking on Ibrahimovic.

However, five central defenders did stick out in his mind when asked to name the 'strongest' he ever faced. It's rare for the 45-year-old to hand out compliments, which shows just how good these guys were.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Top 5 Defenders

In a 2021 interview with Corriere TV, the physically imposing Swede overlooked the likes of Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and other top names when picking the strongest defenders he'd seen.

Instead, he included Manchester United icon Jaap Stam and Italian trio Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta and Giorgio Chiellini as he said:

He was particularly complimentary of Thiago Silva, or the 'Ibrahimovic in defence', as he put it. The pair were teammates at Paris Saint-Germain, winning four Ligue 1 titles together.

Ibrahimovic claimed Silva, who is still playing into his forties, was the 'most complete' defender he'd come across. He continued: "He was the most complete defender; he knew how to do everything. Then we also went to Paris together; we won together. He is a top defender."

After eight years in the French capital, Silva decided to take another division by storm. The Premier League. Signing for Chelsea in 2020, the veteran centre-back was incredible, showing his intelligence and strength.

During his four years at Stamford Bridge, the 113-cap Brazil international won the 2020-21 Champions League and the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup.

Now, aged 42, Silva is back in Brazil. He is playing for Fluminense, the club where it all started during his youth days in 1998. He's unlikely to have much left in the tank, but Silva's story has been remarkable.

Thiago Silva 'Almost Died' Before His Career Got Going

Silva's career and life were threatened back in 2005 while on loan at Russian club Dynamo Moscow from Porto. The Brazilian ace had caught tuberculosis and ended up spending six months in hospital.

Doctors even suggested removing part of his lung to ensure survival as the bacterial infection was so advanced when it was discovered. However, Silva revealed that would be the end of his career, telling AP (per The Sun): "That would have ended my career, I needed guardian angels to take me away."

In a separate interview with Gazzetta dello Sport in 2011, Silva went into further detail about his health struggles six years prior.

"In 2005 I was sent out on loan to Dynamo Moscow, but the city was horrible, I was cold and got ill," he explained. "I was in hospital for six months. I was 10kg overweight and, despite everyone else in the hospital being so skinny and not wanting to eat, I was always hungry.

Silva's career was already remarkable without this added detail that he almost had to give up his dreams just to stay alive. The experienced defender concluded:

"I eventually found out that I’d had tuberculosis for six months. The doctors said if another two weeks had passed, I might not have been able to recover.

"I almost died. This is why, whenever I play, I think back to those moments in Russia."