David De Gea endured a tough debut for Fiorentina in his first competitive match in over a year. The former Manchester United goalkeeper has finally found a club but will want to quickly forget his first outing for the Italian side.
De Gea was left on the bench for Fiorentina’s Serie A opener against Parma last weekend, a game which ended in a 1-1 draw. The Spaniard was subsequently handed his debut in the Conference League play-off against Puskas Akademia.
But it was a night to forget for De Gea as he conceded three goals in a fairly embarrassing 3-3 draw with the Hungarian minnows. Puskas took a surprising 2-0 lead in Italy through Zsolt Nagy’s penalty and a goal from Mikael Soisalo.
Related articles
Riccardo Sottil, Lucas Quarta and Moise Kean all scored for Fiorentina to hand them what seemed a saving-face comeback, albeit a nonetheless positive one heading into the away leg in Hungary. But Wojchiech Golla struck a dramatic equaliser in the 89th minute to condemn De Gea and his colleagues to a hugely disappointing draw.
Fiorentina boss Raffaele Palladino was furious with his players, saying: “It was a bad start, that goes without saying, and it was honestly inexplicable. We made errors I don’t even see in training sessions, they were big mistakes to go 2-0 down.
“Then we did well to stay in the game, open it up with Riccardo before the break and I liked the attitude of the second half, we had a very different approach, hunger and turned it around. The regret is conceding a goal on a set play when a player was off the field injured, but we still shouldn’t have conceded it.
“There is a lot that needs improvement, we still don’t have a clear identity and are fragile. This is the situation, we need to analyse everything and recognise we need to start with the right attitude.”
De Gea has finally found a home after a year out of football. Still only 33, the shot-stopper failed to locate a new club that he felt was right for him after leaving United on a free transfer in June 2023.
He spent 12 years at Old Trafford, making 545 appearances, but Erik ten Hag wanted to sign a goalkeeper more adept with his feet. Andre Onana was acquired by the Red Devils after De Gea’s departure.
