Braithwaite delighted to score first goal for Barcelona
Martin Braithwaite expressed his joy at opening his account for Barcelona in the team's 0-4 romp away at Mallorca on Saturday night.
Martin Braithwaite said he was happy and evidently relieved to open his account for Barcelona as the team romped to a 0-4 win at Mallorca in their first game back after LaLiga was stopped for the coronavirus crisis. The Danish striker played his first full 90 minutes in LaLiga since joining from Leganés as an emergency signing in February, at Son Moix on Saturday night. It was his fourth appearance and second start in the league since swapping a relegation battle for the title race. The win means the blaugranas remain top of the table ahead of Real Madrid's meeting with Eibar later today.
Great feeling to be off the mark, says Braithwaite
Braithwaite said afterwards that he was delighted to grab his first goal for Barça: "I've been waiting for it for a long time, so it's amazing to score my first goal. It was most important to start like we did [on Saturday], so we are happy and we have to continue like this. As a forward you want to score goals and I've been working a lot during the break from LaLiga, and I've been really looking forward to playing this game and hopefully getting a goal and I'm happy, I'm really happy."
Luis Suárez's season looked to be over when he had an operation in January, but the three-month suspension of the league has allowed him to recover fitness, and now coach Quique Setién has options up front for the title push. The Uruguayan had a 33-minute run-out at Son Moix, and Braithwaite can expect to come under pressure for a regular start.
Yesterday's victory puts Barcelona five points clear of Madrid at the top of the table: "It's really important because we have to start with confidence, and to score four goals and not concede any goals is really important for us," Braithwaite told Barça TV. "We started good and just built our confidence and we need that to continue pursuing what we want."
Barcelona have 10 games left in the LaLiga season as they attempt to fend off Real Madrid and wrap up what would be a 27th league title.