Vela hits back at Ibrahimovic: I'm better right now, that's the reality

Carlos Vela isn't going to sit idly by and let Zlatan Ibrahimovic do all the talking, even if the latter dominated every aspect of Friday's El Trafico between heated rivals Los Angeles FC and the LA Galaxy.

Prior to the contest, the Swedish superstar told reporters he was "by far" the better player of the pair; he then upstaged the Mexican by scoring a hat-trick in the Galaxy's feisty 3-2 victory over the runaway MLS leaders.

After the match, Ibrahimovic doubled down, saying, among other things, that it was a "mistake" for anyone to compare him to the LAFC captain.

Vela, who himself scored twice in Friday's loss, hit back in kind.

"Comparing would show a lack of respect towards him, but if we look at the stats and forget age and whatever, I'm better than him right now, that's the reality," the 30-year-old said after the game, according to Tom Marshall of ESPN.

Vela leads MLS with 21 goals in 20 matches this season - a league record through that many games. Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, sits second on 16 tallies.

The Mexican star did praise the 37-year-old's ability to maintain such an elite level of play throughout his career, though.

"And in terms of the rest, he's been Zlatan and only (Lionel) Messi and Cristiano (Ronaldo) are better than him; the rest of us aren't in the same league," he added.

The next edition of El Trafico is slated for Aug. 25.