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Last weekend, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bagged his first goals in Barcelona's jersey. The Gabonese international scored a glittering hat trick over Valencia and brought to the culé universe his signature somersault celebration.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scores his first goal for Barcelona! pic.twitter.com/BBun4C6NjP
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 20, 2022
The origins of Aubameyang somersault celebration
Thirsty for knowledge, the Catalan media wanted to know the origins of the iconic front flip and soon had Auba himself admitting his inspiration was the Mexican legend Hugo Sánchez, who paradoxically played for Barcelona's biggest enemy, Real Madrid.
"I remember that I started a long time ago at home watching videos," Aubameyang told Mundo Deportivo before releasing the bomb. "If I'm telling the truth, it was from a player who played for the other team — Hugo Sánchez."
By the way, this is not the first time Aubameyang linked his celebration with Hugol.
"As a child, I saw Hugo Sánchez on television celebrating goals like that. I thought it was incredible, and I wanted to do it," the striker said to the Bundesliga website in 2015, when he was still a Borussia Dortmund player.
A few months later, Aubameyang talked to L'Equipe and even confessed he dreamed about playing in Real Madrid.
"In 2014, before he died, I promised my grandfather, who was from Avila, that I would play there. It will be complicated, but it sits in the corner of my head," he said.
In the same interview, Aubameyang mentioned Sánchez again.
"When I was a kid, I watched Hugo Sanchez videos," he said. "The backflip I sometimes do when I score is actually an homage to him."
Para que se den una ideal del tamaño de Hugo Sánchez como delantero. Fue el mejor goleador mundial de su DÉCADA. Imagínense eso. pic.twitter.com/sBiNlb9VDo
— Martín del Palacio Langer (@martindelp) April 9, 2021
Sánchez had a phenomenal career in Spain, defending Atlético and Real Madrid. He was LaLiga top scorer on five occasions, and that's why he is called The Pentapichichi. He also is recognized as the player with the most goals scored during the 80s: 315.
