David de Gea wasted no time sharing his reaction after the Manchester United legend saved a penalty in Fiorentina’s win over Puskas Akademia on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Spaniard made his long-awaited return to football earlier this month after he signed for Serie A side Fiorentina on a free transfer.
David de Gea had spent the entirety of the 2023-24 campaign on the sideline as a free agent after his exit from Manchester United in 2023.
The United legend had captured the Premier League Golden Glove in his final season at Old Trafford, but the Red Devils were unable to agree on a new deal with De Gea.
De Gea had teased fans on social media with various training clips during his period as a free agent, with the ex-United No 1 attracting interest from around the world.
The Fiorentina shot-stopper had been linked with clubs in his native homeland of Spain, Saudi Arabia, England and Italy before he signed for Fiorentina.
De Gea’s reaction to penalty heroics
David de Gea made the bench for Fiorentina and was an unused substitute in the 1-1 Serie A draw against Parma at the Stadio Ennio Tardini earlier this month.
The former Spain international was then handed his club debut in a 3-3 draw against Puskas Akademia in the first-leg Europa Conference League play-off match.
De Gea’s first-leg match against Puskas Akademia was the Manchester United legend’s first football appearance since the 2023 FA Cup final defeat at Wembley.
Following the 3-3 draw at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, De Gea returned to the starting XI for the second-leg play-off match away from home.
Fiorentina were held to a 1-1 draw in regular playing time after Zsolt Nagy scored an injury-time penalty, with the Italian side reduced to nine men after two sending-offs.
However, De Gea denied Puskas Akademia’s Roland Szolnoki from the spot-kick and Fiorentina clinched a 5-4 win in the penalty shootout.
The Fiorentina shot-stopper took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and shared his reaction to his side’s Europa Conference League play-off win.
“Anddiiiiaaamooooooo!!!!!!” De Gea wrote, adding two purple heart emojis.
Raffaele Palladino on Fiorentina win
Speaking after the penalty shootout win, Fiorentina boss Raffaele Palladino was happy that his side managed to beat Puskas Akademia.
“It was essential to get through this round, I want to thank the lads because today they fought with heart, courage and great sacrifice,” he said, as per TribalFootball.
“I’m sorry because we gave away the first half, the responsibility is mine while in the second half, we were good, entering the field with a different mentality.
“Then there were the episodes of expulsions but our team spirit came out, now we must already think about the championship.
“I want to instil the mentality to dominate the game more and play better technically in the opponent’s half, too many times we close ourselves off or don’t find the free man.
“All things in which we are struggling but it’s my job, it takes patience. The boys are committed, today they showed me that they are great men.”
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