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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Michael Gowler

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang matches Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo feat at Barcelona

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has already matched the feats of a number of Barcelona club legends as his stellar start to life in Spain continues.

The Gabonese forward joined the La Liga giants at the end of the winter transfer window as a free agent after Arsenal agreed to terminate his contract.

That decision came following a public fallout with Gunners manager Mikel Arteta, which saw Aubameyang stripped of the club's captaincy and banished from first-team duties.

However, it hasn't taken the 32-year-old long to make his mark with his new club and show Arsenal what they are missing, as he made Barcelona history on Sunday night.

Aubameyang once again got himself on the scoresheet in the Blaugrana's 4-0 thumping of Osasuna to claim his fifth goal in his first six league appearances for the club.

The former Arsenal attacker joined an illustrious list of Barca players to achieve such a feat and became the first to do so since Zlatan Ibrahimovic back in 2009.

Other star names among the exclusive club to have netted five in their first six league outings for the Spanish side include the likes of Ronaldo, Romario and Johan Cruyff.

After making his Barca bow with a late cameo in the cash-strapped Catalan club's 4-2 win over Atletico Madrid in early February, Aubameyang netted a hat-trick on his first La Liga start away to Valencia.

The forward then added another in a resounding 4-0 Nou Camp triumph over Athletic Bilbao before hitting his history-making strike against Osasuna on Sunday.

And it's not just domestically that Aubameyang is making his mark, as he also found the net in Barcelona's Europa League knockout round play-off success over Napoli.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Were Arsenal right to allow Aubemeyang to leave? Let us know in the comments

With Aubameyang's help, Barcelona have experienced a remarkable resurgence of late.

The La Liga giants endured a rocky start to the season, one which saw Ronald Koeman sacked and the club fail to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in 17 years.

Xavi has been installed as manager and has overseen Barca's rise from mid-table mediocrity up to third in the La Liga standings.

Ferran Torres, a recent arrival from Manchester City, has also played a significant part in that turnaround and bagged a brace in Sunday's Osasuna rout with Ricard Puig grabbing the other.

Aubameyang previously admitted Mikel Arteta was the reason for his recent Arsenal departure (Getty Images)

Aubameyang took to Instagram to declare that leaving Arsenal “without a real goodbye hurts” following his Emirates exit and admitted his damaged relationship with Arteta was the reason he left during his Barca unveiling.

“My last few months at Arsenal were complicated - that’s football sometimes," Aubameyang revealed.

“For my part, I never wanted to do anything wrong. My problem was only with Arteta. I can’t say much more, I wasn’t happy.

“It was just him and he made that decision. He wasn’t happy, I can’t tell you more. He wasn’t very happy, I was very calm.

“Those were difficult months. This is football. I’ve never wanted to do anything wrong, it’s the past and I want to think about the present.”

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