Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has defended former teammate Mario Balotelli over his row with Inter Milan.

The Italy Under-21 international has been dropped from Inter's last six match squads after a dispute with the club.

Ibrahimovic said: "I heard from Mario. I told him to keep giving his best.

"He is part of team. He should be defended. They have to keep him in consideration and not attack him as if he were an outsider.

"When I was at Inter, these sorts of things didn't happen."