Braithwaite is the new messiah: It is a respected notion in football that a club is always ahead of a player. A perpetual entity snaking past the enviable legacy forged over the years by any player in the world continues even in the face of the mightiest calamities.
When Messi left Barcelona, it created a seminal void and a void that will need ages to be filled or may never be filled at all. However, that departure doesn’t mean that the club will come to a halt. They were slated to start their La Liga campaign on Sunday and they did manage to start the current edition of the tournament in the most blazing fashion.
Slated to play against Real Sociedad at home, Barcelona emerged victorious emphatically and like it or not, those empty stands will be brimming to the rafters if they start emulating the illustration on their opening night.
The Catalan giants made their intent clear when the hero of the night, Braithwaite took just 30 seconds to let fly of a screamer only to be held by Remiro. An already surging Barcelona made an even brighter statement when Griezmann’s fanciful effort to perform an overhead kick flew inches wide of the woodwork.
The early salvo finally came to fruition when Pique out-leaped his markers to meet a peach from Depay and thumped it home to open the floodgates. The man took a pay cut this summer and kissed his jersey to celebrate in a manner that will hold very high symbolic importance in the days to follow.
Barcelona just doubled their lead in the dying embers of the opening half as Martin Braithwaite smashed a thumping header from a corner to make life difficult for an already jaded Sociedad.
The Danish sensation, Braithwaite added another to his tally at the edge of the hour mark when a sizzling run from Jordi Alba, followed by a neat effort to square off the former was palmed by Remiro in the stride of the Dane. The man who delivered Denmark in the Euro Cup on countless occasions rose to the occasions as he smashed home from point-blank range.
A sudden explosion of vitality from Real Sociedad saw Barcelona dangling from a thread and their fans on the edge of a frenetic outburst. After Lobete opened the scoring for the visitors, it was an outrageous free-kick from Oyarzabal to reduce the deficit to a solitary strike.
However, it was the man of the night, Martin Braithwaite who rang louder than any other on the pitch as he sent a scouring cross for a surging Sergi Roberto to nod home and the latter made no mistake.
It was a night surging hot with emotions and countless tales of reprieve and happiness from the Catalan fans as they would take this welcome sight over their tragic summer window that saw them lose one of their best assets to French stalwarts, PSG.
Twitter simply couldn’t contain their excitement and fervor as Braithwaite rekindled images of a soaring Messi in his prime.
Martin Braithwaite bags a double… pic.twitter.com/0Q4f8qpNYc
Advertisement— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 15, 2021
Balon D’or winner 2022 .. Martin Braithwaite pic.twitter.com/PhgRlI9jLa
Advertisement— kay 💧 (@KayPoissonOne) August 15, 2021
Martin Braithwaite's game by numbers vs. Real Sociedad:
Advertisement8 touches in the opp. box
8 duels won
4 ball recoveries
4 shots
3 shots on target
2 take-ons completed
2 chances created
2 fouls won
2 goals
1 assistMarvellous Martin. pic.twitter.com/OASXAKI3df
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 15, 2021
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Martin Braithwaite after Barcelona took the Number 9 from him and gave it to Memphis pic.twitter.com/bDvrT6LA04
— 🇩🇪🐐¹¹ (@KalaWesime) August 15, 2021
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Martin Braithwaite is playing like Prime Asamoah Gyan. Wow🔥
— Ghana Football Association (@gfa_official_) August 15, 2021
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The new Barcelona era 🔥
That goal from Martin Braithwaite and his celebration 🕺#BarcaRealSociedad
pic.twitter.com/Z6cwGW5pOUAdvertisement— VBET News (@VBETnews) August 15, 2021
Who needs Lionel Messi when you've got… *checks notes*… Martin Braithwaite 😅 pic.twitter.com/olp5ijNPTK
Advertisement— SPORTbible (@sportbible) August 15, 2021
Let’s show “New Messi” Martin Braithwaite some love……….just retweet #RoyalSports pic.twitter.com/iUo7Fp6kuD
Advertisement— Fancy Di Maria (@FancyDiMaria_) August 15, 2021
Humble✅
Handsome✅
Dedicated✅
Ice cold🥶✅
Smile a little after scoring for the first time😍✅
GOAT🐐✅
Decide to give assist even when he's on hat trick🥺✅
Back to Back to Back Goals
Tweet after 2HRS of every game✅AdvertisementBreadwinner😍❤✅✅🔥🔥🔥🔥
Welcome back idolo🥺😍🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/z8GqWM0nex
— Kofi_Coke_💙 (@Jorge_Kofi__KG) August 15, 2021
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🕺 Martin Braithwaite's goal celebration #BarçaRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/Zkq3GIBVQ7
— FCBarcelonaFl (@FCBarcelonaFl) August 15, 2021
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