Braithwaite: I know Leganes well, I really want to play against them

Martin Braithwaite scored his first goal as Barcelona player on Saturday in the 4-0 win against Mallorca as LaLiga returned after a three-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Danish striker is now preparing to take on his former side, Leganes, who left for Barça in a deal worth 18 million euros in February. 

Barça host Leganes at Camp Nou on Tuesday with the chance to move five points clear of Real Madrid, who will play Valencia on Thursday. 

“I know them, I know how they play," Braithwaite said of Leganes. "We want to win the league so we must win to keep adding points.

“I have spoken with Kevin Rodrigues, he is a great friend of mine. I really want to play against them on Tuesday." 

Looking back on his time at the Madrid club, he said his fondest memory came "when we won against Sevilla at their ground, that was a special game."

As for his game against Barça, he added: "The first game was difficult for Barça, we went ahead and defended well but it was not enough to achieve the win. In the second match, they were much more superior and did much better than us.”

He also had praise for the Leganes manager, Javier Aguirre, saying "he is a great coach, I have a lot of respect for him. He came and knew how he wanted to play, what he wanted to do and gave confidence to the players. But the most important thing for me is the human aspect, he understands that footballers are people ahead of players.”

Looking back on the weekend, he concluded that "scoring my first goal with Barça was incredible, it is something I had dreamed of and had worked hard for. I am very happy. Playing again was a special feeling. Without fans, it is very different but I felt good.

“It is different. You play with pressure to win the league too, but I prefer to play to win titles than having to stay up."