Barcelona: Braithwaite off to dream start with Messi assist
Eyebrows were raised when the Denmark striker joined the Liga champions from Leganés but he silenced his critics with a an immediate impact against Eibar.
New Barcelona signing Martin Braithwaite specifically highlighted the allure of playing alongside Leo Messi when he signed for Barcelona from Leganés and just two days after his unveiling at Camp Nou – to a considerable lack of fanfare – the Denmark international showed his detractors that he is not in Catalonia to make up the numbers.
Braithwaite achieves Messi dream
The 28-year-old climbed from the bench in the 72nd minute to generous applause from the stands and after a nervous shanked first touch that flew over the byline rather into the area the Dane found his feet and a little over 10 minutes later found Messi after some trickery on the left for the Argentinean to hammer home his fourth and a added a first assist to his stats on his official debut.
Minutes later Braithwaite was again involved when his shot was parried by Eibar keeper Marko Dmitrovic into the path of Arthur, who slammed the ball into the back of the net from close range to complete the rout.