Getty Memphis Depay celebrates his first La Liga goal
Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann and coach Ronald Koeman were full of praise for Memphis Depay after the Dutchman rescued a point for the Catalan giants against Athletic at San Mames.
Memphis struck his first La Liga goal for Barcelona in the 75th minute of the game to salvage a 1-1 draw for the visitors. Griezmann was impressed with his teammate’s strike and is enjoying playing alongside the Dutchman.
He said, “Memphis is a great player and it’s great for us to have him up front. It was tough for us today but we managed to hold on and his goal was brilliant.”
Memphis now has a goal and an assist in his first two Barcelona outings which sees him join an exclusive club at the Camp Nou, as shown by Opta.
2 – Memphis Depay 🇳🇱 is the first @FCBarcelona player to be directly involved in a goal in each of his first two @LaLigaEN games (one goal and one assist) since Cesc Fàbregas 🇪🇸 (two and one) and Alexis Sánchez 🇨🇱 (one and one) in September 2011. Providential.
Coach Ronald Koeman also spoke about Memphis after the draw and told reporters the 27-year-old is a constant threat. He said, “It’s a great goal, he always dangerous, he’s always waiting for the opportunity to score, he scored a great goal, he get another opportunity at 1-1 but OK. Totally happy with the attitude of the players and the reaction we showed after going 1-0 down.”
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Memphis ‘Can’t Really Enjoy’ First Goal
Memphis may have been on target against Athletic, but the Netherlands international will not be celebrating his first goal too hard. The former Lyon star said afterwards he had mixed feelings after the game, as reported by FC Barcelona.
“It feels wonderful to score a goal but I feel disappointed with the result. So, it has two sides, I can’t really enjoy it too much because we didn’t get the three points,” he said. “It was a tough game but obviously to score my first onel for the club it feels good, it means a lot, and I want to bring more.”
Saturday’s result leaves Barcelona with four points from two testing games of the new season against Real Sociedad and Athletic. The Catalan giants now have seven days of rest before Getafe visit the Camp Nou.
Barca Missing Messi
Memphis has been Barcelona’s main creator in attack in the first two games of the season as the Catalan giants begin life without Lionel Messi. Koeman about spoke life without the Argentine and admitted opponents have less to fear, as reported by Marca.
“I don’t like to always talk about the same thing, but we’re talking about the best in the world. Our opponents had more fear when Messi was here,” he said. “For us as well, if you pass the ball to Leo, usually he won’t lose it. You can tell [Messi] isn’t there. We know that and we can’t change it.”
The visitors were far from impressive and often second best against Athletic on Saturday. However, Koeman can take heart from the way his team came back from 1-0 down and managed to take a point against an impressive home side.
READ NEXT: Memphis Scores Stunning First La Liga Goal For Barcelona [WATCH]
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Griezmann & Koeman Praise Memphis Depay After Barcelona Strike