Only one week after sealing his departure from Old Trafford, the former Manchester United man found himself starting a vital European qualifier in front of over 60,000 feverish fans.
Talk about being thrown in at the deep end.
But if Facundo Pellistri had dipped his toe into the Panathinaikos waters with a brief cameo appearance in the first leg, he discarded the armbands and dived straight into those choppy seas when RC Lens returned for Thursday’s rematch in Athens.
Driving into the penalty box and attempting to play a quick one-two with star striker Fotis Ioannidis, Manchester United’s eternal back-up received the ball back via a kind deflection and instinctively curled the ball into the far corner with his weaker left foot.
There are worse times to score your first goal for a new club.
Diego Alonso, his former Uruguay boss and the man who played such a key role in luring Pellistri to Greece, led the rampant celebrations.
And if the ex-Penarol starlet had any lingering reservations about whether Panathinaikos was the right step at such a crucial juncture in his career, the reaction that greeted Pellistri’s maiden strike from a capacity crowd only 9,000 short of Old Trafford’s usual attendance saw him go from perennial benchwarmer to instant hero in the blink of an eye.
- READ MORE: Manchester United confirmed signings, transfers in, out, loan exits, releases for 2024/25
Facundo Pellistri flying after Manchester United exit
“It was incredible. There were about 65,000 people, and it was a party,” Pellistri, who’s goal sparked a comeback which resulted in Panathinaikos knocking Lens out of Europe while securing their own Conference League spot, tells Proto Thema.
“It was the second leg. We had to win no matter what, and everything went right. It was a magical night.
“There was a counter-attack, I took the ball in the middle of the field and started to move forward. I gave the ball to our striker, he tried to turn, the ball bounced. I saw it coming and I hit it with my left foot.”
That one swing of Pellistri’s boot saw the £5 million signing repay much of his transfer fee on only appearance number three.
Almost literally, given the money Panathinaikos stand to bank from a season of European football.
Pellistri explained last week that his departure from Man United was driven by a desire to play more regular first-team football. The 22-year-old made only one Premier League start in during four seasons as a Red Devil.
Though the baking Greek sunshine was certainly a factor too, the South American Pellistri having seen more than his fair share of rain in drizzly old Manchester.
Uruguayan happy to be away from the Manchester rain
“I’m enjoying the sun, which I hadn’t seen in Manchester for four years!,” he adds. “I had never been to Greece and it’s a paradise. It is incredible.
“On a football level, Panathinaikos is a very big club that slowly wants to compete again in Europe.”
Ten Hag, ahead of last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Brighton and Hove Albion, described Pellistri as a ‘very talented player’.
The Dutchman feels that United were in no position to stand in his way, however, with Amad Diallo, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony all ahead of Pellistri in the pecking order on the right-hand flank.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
