- David de Gea suffered a nightmare debut for Fiorentina, conceding three goals
- The former United goalkeeper was mocked by some, but others applauded him
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David de Gea endured a difficult start for Fiorentina, conceding two goals in the first twelve minutes against Europe’s small side.
Fiorentina had to fight back from 2-0 down to eventually draw 3-3 in the Europa Conference League play-offs against Hungary’s third-best team Puskas Akademia.
It’s a very different story to winning the FA Cup at Wembley or bringing the Premier League back to Old Trafford for the former Manchester United goalkeeper.
De Gea has been working hard to stay fit and signed for Fiorentina this summer, his first club since leaving United as a free agent in June 2023.
This was his first appearance in 446 days and the Spaniard certainly didn’t have it easy, having five shots on target and conceding three.
David de Gea endured a nightmare start to life at Fiorentina, conceding twice in the first 12 minutes
He conceded a third when Fiorentina drew 3-3 at home to small Puskas Akademia
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To be fair to De Gea, it’s tough to be awarded a penalty nine minutes into your first game for a new club. He conceded the spot-kick to Hungary’s Zsolt Nagy, who is playing in Euro 2024, despite diving the right way.
Three minutes later the next one was fired.
Fiorentina came back from two goals down to take the lead, with Moise Kean giving the Italians the lead on 75 minutes.
However, the visitors’ 89th-minute equaliser left a bitter taste in their mouths and meant Fiorentina still had a lot of work to do to reach the group stage.
They have suffered a lot of heartache over the past two seasons, including losing the Europa Conference League final to West Ham and Olympiacos.
Fans were quick to praise the 33-year-old De Gea for his joy. He has, it must be said, achieved more than most in football, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup, two EFL Cups and two Europa Leagues.
‘De Gea never changed, after 11 minutes his brother already conceded 2 goals,’ wrote a user on X.
‘Oh boy, my favourite goalkeeper David De Gea has finally signed a club! Let’s see how he does on his debut against the Hungarian plumbers,’ wrote another.
Fans had mixed respect for the former Manchester United goalkeepers
Others jumped eagerly to his defense. ‘De Gea revisionism stinks, they just ignore that he was the best GK in the league for 5 years. Only Ronaldo has won POTY (4 times) as many times as De Gea,’ began one
‘He’s been bad since the 2018 World Cup, but let’s not rewrite history. David De Gea is a club legend.’
Another said: ‘He did well. He made some excellent saves. He should really be Fiorentina’s number one.’