‘Memphis Depay softens the mourning’

Monday, August 9, 2021 at 07:49• Chris Meijer

Memphis Depay once again emphatically asserted himself at Barcelona on Sunday evening. The attacker, who came over from Olympique Lyon, scored a goal and an assist in the Trofeo Joan Gamper match against Juventus (3-0 win). The Spanish newspapers unanimously point to Depay as one of the players who somewhat eased the pain of Lionel Messi’s departure.

‘Memphis makes Messi’s wound less painful’, headlines marca. “Memphis scored again in a game against a major European opponent. Neto excelled and young Yusuf Demir continues to amaze with confidence and attacking play. The era without Messi has begun, even if the fans have not forgotten him.” “Antoine Griezmann shows that there is an excellent connection with Memphis. The era without Messi has not started so badly…”

Also ASH quotes Depay in the headline: ‘Memphis softens the mourning’. Memphis, Demir and Riqui Puig are left for the shocked and orphaned supporters after the trauma of Messi’s departure. “Memphis ensured that there was laughter again after three minutes. He scored on a pass from Demir, an eighteen-year-old boy who has conquered a place in the starting eleven of Barcelona with such conviction. Pedri did this a year ago.”

“Memphis wasted no time in becoming a crowd favorite. He scored with his first contact with the ball”, writes Sport. The Catalan sports newspaper rates Depay’s performance with a 9. “Memphis only needed three minutes to thrill the fans by scoring the first goal of the post-Messi era. He entered Barcelona through the front door and is ready to lead Ronald Koeman’s second project, Memphis will not hesitate to pull the trigger if given the opportunity, something Barcelona has missed in recent years.”

“Barcelona is orphaned without his number 10, but his teammates continue to defend the logo on the chest with ambition. With that attitude, Barcelona was on the field in the Estadi Johan Cruijff”, writes Sport. “It resulted early in Memphis’ opening goal, masterfully prepared by Demir. Memphis scored with a subtle foot movement. He is a footballer who is able to get the crowd on the benches. His left shot was powerful and placed, Wojciech Szczesny had no chance.”

“It is entirely possible that no one will ever forget Messi, but the goal that Memphis scored very early against Juventus takes some of the pain away from the fans and emphasizes that life goes on,” he added. Mundo Deportivo up. “He played with intelligence again, for example in a combination with Jordi Alba. Messi had signed for it. He left with a goal and an assist, a score that does not look out of place for the very best. It would have been exciting to see him play with Messi. It won’t be possible. And as life goes on, Barcelona is also obliged to win even in friendlies.”