Antoine Griezmann made a great impression in his first competitive match at Camp Nou by scoring two goals either side of half time as the French forward inspired Barcelona to a 5-2 demolition of Real Betis in a La Liga match played on Sunday night.
The goals ensured the 28-year-old forward became the first Barcelona player in the 21st century to score two goals on his debut at Camp Nou as the Spanish champions bounced back from defeat on the opening weekend at Athletic Bilbao in grand style.
Ernesto Valverde’s side went into the encounter without Lionel Messi as well as Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez who were all out with injuries and it looked like the evening would be a long one for the Blaugrana faithful as new signing Nabil Fekir fired Betis ahead after only 15 minutes.
Fekir’s goal invoked bad memories of Barcelona falling 4-3 to the same team last time they visited the Camp Nou, and just as Betis looked to be heading into half-time with the lead, another new signing got on the scoresheet but this time, for Barcelona, as Griezmann slid in the equaliser in the 41st minute.
The £110 million arrival from Atletico Madrid in the summer then got the Camp Nou crowd on their feet with a glorious second which he curled in past Betis goalkeeper Martin from the edge of the penalty area just five minutes into the second half.
Griezmann celebrated his outlandish goal in a style just as befitting by raining a confetti of flowers on himself while Messi and Suarez watched their new team-mate’s display from the stands with great delight.
Barcelona then added two goals in quick succession, first through Carles Perez with his first goal for the club in the 56th minute followed by a sweeping finish into the bottom corner by Jordi Alba to make it 4-1 right on the hour mark.
Griezmann then went from goalscorer to provider as he laid the ball off for substitute Arturo Vidal to make it 5-1 with his first touch of the game in the 77th minute, before Loren Moron’s scorching effort after a mistake by Griezmann led to the final goal of the night as Barca ran away with all three points.
SOURCE: DAILYADVENT
