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Behold, the Man-Bear in his natural habitat. Holding aloft another shiny bauble, admiring it in the sparkling lights.
See how it reflects the physical and the metaphorical effort, the blood, the sweat, and the tears that go into each and every success on the pitch? The hours spent training, playing, preparing, the days on the road and, this season, the added concerns over a pandemic, it has all been worth it.
Just one thing left to do: don’t drop it!
It’s a good thing Branislav has plenty of experience in lifting trophies, right?
We love a dropped trophy. Here's Branislav Ivanović this evening making a meal of lifting the Russian Cup. pic.twitter.com/5VA7EnMPuN
— The Blizzard (@blzzrd) July 25, 2020
Oopsies!
You’d think he’d know how to do it by now!
Impressively, the big ears of the crystal (!?) trophy somehow survive the drop from the dizzying heights of Mount Brana, but the topper gets smashed into several pieces.
The team of course take it in stride and in good fun, but you know that somewhere some craftsman’s watching in absolute horror as his creation meets a violent end on national television. That’s not gonna buff out.
In any case, congrats to Captain Bane and the rest of his Zenit St. Petersburg crew, who made it a Double for their season by winning the now broken Russian Cup and adding to the their impressive domination of the Russian Premier League. They defended their title from last season by absolutely annihilating the competition Liverpool-style, winning the league by 25 points.
Since leaving Chelsea in 2017, the now 36-year-old Ivanović has been ever-present for Zenit. His contract is up however this summer, and it’s unclear what may lie ahead for him in the future.