“La Liga has a new star”. This is the title of an article by Marcaand the daily based in the Spanish capital is not the only one, since Sport states that “what is happening with Aubameyang makes no sense”. Words which demonstrate the immediate impact of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the start of the season. It must be said that the stats line is impressive: 4 goals and 2 assists in 4 days of the championship, with Deportivo de La Coruna already in fourth place in La Liga despite its promoted status.
Of course, PEA is not unknown across the Pyrenees. His time at FC Barcelona for a few months in 2022 left a good memory, and he is a striker who remains quite well known to the general public thanks to his stints with the best European clubs. But obviously, we are talking about a 37-year-old player, with logical doubts concerning his physical condition and his ability to play in matches. Doubts quickly dispelled, and at 37 years old, the Gabonese has perhaps never been as sharp as now. As evidenced by his goal against Villarreal on Sunday evening. In the 88th minute of the match, the former OM player recovered the ball at the halfway line after a missed back pass from an opponent, he rushed towards the rival cages to crucify the goalkeeper, without being caught by the defenders of the Yellow Submarine.
The ideal context to shine
The one who is already nicknamed Aura-Meyang in Spain had promised goals when he arrived, and he didn’t lie. At Depor, everyone is shocked by his performances. “It’s real madness”for example explained Antonio Hidalgo, his coach, after the match on Saturday evening. It should be noted that his choice to join Deportivo was more than intelligent. A promotion certainly, but which has still invested a lot, with a workforce which looks more like that of a club aiming for a place in the first half of the table than a club fighting to maintain itself. Above all, the team plays a resolutely offensive game, and behind him, Aubameyang has many quality players to serve him balls, like Mario Soriano, Luismi Cruz, or star Yeremay Hernandez who is having a little trouble at the start of the season due to pubalgia.
The player’s integration into the club and the city was also very quick. The grandson of Spaniards on his mother’s side, he already spoke Spanish and was welcomed with open arms in Galicia, a region known for its hospitality. One of the mottos of La Coruña is “the city where no one is a stranger”. On social networks, videos are circulating where we see Aubameyang playing football with kids in a city stadium in the city. Obviously, it is difficult to imagine the Gabonese maintaining this pace over the entire season, and this is completely normal, since an average of one goal per match in La Liga has only been achieved by two men: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But with a Aubam at this level, Depor can be very optimistic, and the player will surely be able to exceed fifteen achievements this season…
