Masch: Peer pressure for penalty!

Javier Mascherano has explained how the insistence of his teammates and the home crowd ensured he felt he had to take a Barcelona penalty against Osasuna.

The Argentine international netted from the spot in the 7-1 victory over Los Rojillos – his first goal in 319 appearances for the Blaugrana and his first league goal of any kind since March 2008 for Liverpool against Reading.

"It's nothing [scoring my first goal]," Mascherano told beIN after the game.

"I just took it as something anecdotal, more a show of affection [from my teammates] than anything else. At first I tried to get out of it, but under pressure from my teammates and the crowd I decided to take it on.

"It would have been a fun moment to remember in years to come had I missed it. I wasn't sure about it at all, honestly, but it was difficult to say no."

Tags Javier Mascherano
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