El Pistolero in the record books after dream debut for Atletico Madrid

Luis Suarez had a dream debut for Atletico Madrid, scoring twice, assisting once and making history.

The score was already 3-0 when Suarez came on for Diego Costa in the 70th minute of the game and it was a debut to remember. He provided an assist for Marcos Llorente and score two of his own to set the score at 6-1 in Atletico’s favour.

The Uruguayan set two records that evening. He became the first player to score and assist on their La Liga debut for Atletico Madrid in the 21st century, but also the first debutant to score a brace on their debut for the Red and Whites.

1 – Luis Suárez has become the first player to score and assist on his LaLiga debut for Atlético de Madrid in the 21st century and also the first debutant to score a brace for the Red-And-Whites. Spectacular. pic.twitter.com/UnDpb3CZoz

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) September 27, 2020

This record begs to see what El Pistolero has done on his previous debuts for the number of clubs he had played for in what has been a fantastic career.

Groningen

His debut game for Groningen was in the Eredivisie against Feyenoord which only resulted in the then 19-year-old having two minutes on the pitch so we’ll move onto a game which saw Suarez have a bit more time on the pitch.

Sparta Rotterdam was his next game in which he played after missing games against NEC Nijmegen and Heracles Almelo.

And his first start in the Eredivisie went well, Groningen won 1-0 with Suarez assisting Stefano Seedorf for the winning goal in the 87th minute.

That season saw the Uruguayan score ten goals in the league and assisting six times, before making a permanent move to Dutch giants Ajax.

Ajax

Ajax paid €7.5 Million for Groningen’s talisman which saw the Uruguayan move over to Amsterdam in the Summer of 2007, and what a decision it was by the Ajax board.

De Graafschap was Suarez’s first game in the Eredivise for his new team and what a debut it was for the striker. Suarez played the full 90 minutes, scored a goal and assisted three in the 8-1 demolition of De Graafschap.

This debut started a meteoric rise for Suarez. 17 goals and 14 assists in his first season for the goal-hungry striker which helped Ajax pick up an average of two points per game. The Amsterdam side finished second however, three points behind that season’s Eredivise Champions, PSV Eindhoven.

Liverpool

January 2011 saw the arrival of Luis Suarez to Liverpool for £22.8 million, but he wasn’t the main attraction at Anfield that day, it was Andy Carroll who also moved to the Merseyside club £35 million.

27 minutes into his debut and the Reds striker had already claimed his first goal. He came on in the 63rd minute for Fabio Aurelio and scored in the 79th after a Dirk Kuyt assist. A perfect debut for Liverpool, a win and a goal for El Pistolero.

Suarez finished on four goals and five assists in the 13 games he played in the Premier League that season. Liverpool only finished sixth that season, 22 points behind Champions Manchester United and four points behind fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

Barcelona

More or less forced out of the club as he wanted to move away from Anfield, Barcelona called the striker and he took his chance. Suarez joined that Catalan Giants for £65 million in July 2014, but would have to wait until October to make his debut, after a four-month ban following his bite on Giorgio Chellini in the World Cup.

Suarez’s debut came away at Real Madrid in El Clasico. He played 69 minutes that evening and assisted Neymar’s goal which came in the second minute of the game, but from that point onwards it went downhill.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Karim Benzema saw off the threat from Barca and Los Blancos went onto win 3-1, the only defeat Suarez has ever suffered on his debut.

 

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