Jose Mourinho has praised Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain next week.

The quarter-final tie will also be a re-union of Mourinho and his former player. Ibrahimovic was a member of Mourinho’s Inter Milan squad in 2008, and insists the Swede was easy to work with.

"Zlatan Ibrahimovic was easy," Mourinho told Yahoo Sport.

"I don't understand why people say that it's difficult to work with strong personalities.

“What is difficult is to work with people who don't want to win, or who don't want to improve.

"When you are in charge of 'a winner,' a person who always wants to win, who wants to be the best and isn't afraid of great responsibility, it's very easy to deal with them.

“I only coached him for a season and it was a good experience. For me, he's one of the best players I've ever coached."

The Portuguese, who left Inter in 2010 and spent three years at Real Madrid before re-uniting with Chelsea this season, also revealed he has learned to grow and relax as a manager.

"I have learned a lot during the years, I have changed," he added.

"I have changed for the better and I hope you agree. Ten years ago, I couldn't lose properly. Now, I can lose properly.

"And I was expecting my team to lose properly -- maybe because the opponent was better, because my goalkeeper made a big mistake, because we missed 10 chances or because the referee made one important mistake.

"All of that is part of the game and I know how to lose like that."

Has the 'Special One' changed and grown as a manager? Have your say in the comment section below.