Dimitar Berbatov knows a thing or two about scoring wondergoals, so he's well-placed to judge Alejandro Garnacho's breathtaking bicycle kick against Everton.
The Bulgarian former striker, who spent four seasons at Manchester United, labelled the strike "world class" and praised the 19-year-old for having the guts to attempt something like that. He also insisted it was better than the overhead kick he scored against Liverpool in 2010.
"I saw some people comparing my overhead kick against Liverpool, but the best? For sure, Garnacho vs Everton. It was a pure strike of the ball. It was magnificent to watch," Berbatov told Betfair. "Ronaldo with Juventus, Bale with Real Madrid and Wayne Rooney with Man United all did it."
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The former Tottenham man, 42, was never a prolific goalscorer, but rarely went more than a few games without dropping people's jaws with bits of effortless magic. His acrobatic goal against Liverpool was a work of unorthodox art, as was the sensational lob he scored for Bayer Leverkusen against Roma in 2003, and many United fans still see his barely-believable assist for Cristiano Ronaldo against West Ham in 2008 in their dreams.
As someone with genius in his bones, it's little surprise to see Berbatov picking up on Garnacho's sky-high potential. He praised the Argentine's on-field assertiveness, suggesting that sort of bravery will be crucial for him going forward.
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"His awareness and how to go and do something like this, you need to have imagination, you need to be brave to pull something off like [his goal against Everton]," Berbatov added. "When it’s still early in the game, you don’t expect something crazy and magnificent to happen. It was an unbelievable goal, produced by a player that is still very, very young, but obviously he’s brave to pull something like this off.
"When you see him play he’s not afraid to go past players, attack players with the ball and because of this bravery he was able to pull something off like this. In moments like this, you don’t even think, it’s just instinct.
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"Now, the expectations are going to go higher for Garnacho. People will be greedy for more. So now, you need to start to tell yourself, 'Okay, I have done something great, but it’s just one goal. I don’t need to reminisce about that goal, I need to work hard to score other goals like this'."
Garnacho has seven goals in 53 games for United. He joined the club from Atletico Madrid as a 16-year-old in 2020, and made his first team debut a year later. Berbatov, meanwhile, bagged 56 goals in 149 games for the Red Devils, winning four major honours, including two Premier League titles.
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