Aubameyang hits the ground running in LaLiga Santander

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored seven goals in seven games in LaLiga Santander. Despite being a newcomer to the Spanish top flight he’s already one of the stars of the season and showed the world just how good he is with a brace and an assist in ElClasico.

Despite Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang having only been a LaLiga Santander player for less than two months, the Gabonese forward has slotted into Spanish football with consummate ease and is currently enjoying one of the best spells of his career. He struck twice in ElClasico to add to an already impressive tally since joining in January, proving that FC Barcelona really struck gold by signing him from Arsenal. He’s now made himself undroppable thanks to his relentless goalscoring.

Last Sunday’s match was the first time the 32-year-old had featured in an ElClasico, and he did so finding the opener and rounding off the scoring in the match. Aubameyang struck in the 29^th minute and completed the rout of Real Madrid by making it 4-0 six minutes into the second half. He also provided a delightful backheeled assist to Ferran Torres for the third of the evening. The Gabonese hitman was a thorn in Los Blancos’ side throughout the game, giving their defence a torrid time in the Santiago Bernabeu. It’s a special stadium to him; he even paid tribute to his idol Hugo Sanchez by celebrating his first goal just as the Mexican legend did so back in his heyday.

Aubameyang boasts the impressive goals-per-minute ratio of one every 63 minutes and has found the net seven times in LaLiga Santander, as well as providing one assist. Despite having only made his debut in the Spanish top flight last month he’s already among LaLiga Santander’s top 20 top scorers. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to suggest that, if he keeps up this scoring streak, the Gabonese will be in with a shout of winning the Pichichi trophy next season.

He's not only one of the best winter transfer window signings among Spanish clubs; you’d be hard pressed to find another forward in Europe to have made quite the impact Aubameyang has since changing clubs. Having made his debut on 6 February 2022 for Barcelona he has shown himself to be one of the most productive forwards out of the big five European leagues.

Yet Aubameyang’s goalscoring feats far predate his time in LaLiga Santander. He’s been plundering goals throughout his career, especially in latter campaigns. In the 2018/19 season he was the joint Golden Boot winner in the Premier League with 22 goals while also registering the same number of strikes in 2019/20.

Aubameyang celebrated his second goal against Real Madrid in ElClasico with a nod to Goku, one of the protagonists of a well-known Japanese TV series. This was his seventh strike of the Spanish season, making him Barcelona’s second-highest scorer after just seven matches for the club in the league. He’s also second on the list for his side in terms of shots on target, with 17 to his name.