Leeds United defender Diego Llorente finally made his long-awaited debut in the 3-1 defeat against Chelsea on Saturday evening.
The Spaniard was initially named on the bench at Stamford Bridge but was called upon in the first half due to an injury picked up by Robin Koch.
The delight of seeing Llorente has come with the sacrifice of Koch, who has started every single game so far this season.
Llorente was certainly thrown into the deep end.
The Spaniard can’t have been at 100% after a long-term absence and was called upon to keep Chelsea quiet – a side who had players on their bench worth more than our entire starting XI.
The 27-year-old won four of his aerial battles against the likes of Olivier Giroud according to WhoScored and also made five tackles and four clearances.
As well as being defensively sound, Llorente made 77 passes – only Liam Cooper made more, but he was on the pitch for an extra 10 minutes.
If one of our central defenders were injured last season, Leeds were in trouble, but thankfully, the signing of Llorente has given us great cover in the Premier League.
Many Leeds fans have reacted to the debut of Llorente, and the majority appeared to be impressed with the first sighting of the Spaniard.
Some claimed that he was poor, but many jumped to his defence claiming it was his first outing and he will only continue to improve at Elland Road.
MOT Leeds News have picked out some of the best reactions below…
Llorente difficult debut, Chelsea fans targeted him too, we won't have to face players like that every match. #lufc
— Stephen Reynolds ๐ฌ๐ง (@stephens_tweets) December 5, 2020
I didnt think Llorente had a bad game tonight all things considered. Him and Koch will make a sound CB pairing #lufc
— Hendo (Champions ๐) (@HendoLJ) December 5, 2020
Considering llorente was thrown into the deep end against a 300 million plus team without experience with the lads, he was decent #lufc
— JโขG๐ฎ๐จ๐ท (@lufcxjack2) December 5, 2020
Decent debut for Llorente all things considered. Clearly not fit, chucked right in at the deep end…. Bit ropey first 10/15 minutes but he settled into it as the game went on.
Room for improvement but that'll hopefully come with fitness and settling in #lufc
— Steven Pagett (@Magic_Pagett) December 5, 2020
Always gonna be a tough first game for Llorente but looks quality.
Meslier never dissapoints.
Can't wait for a crowd at Elland Road. #lufc ๐๐
— ARevird (@a_revird) December 5, 2020
Diego Llorente is a madman ๐ #Lufc
— Lee (@LufcLee19) December 5, 2020
Was impressed with Diego Llorente when he came on for Leeds, just thought his passing let him down at times #lufc #mot
— Ryan (@LeedsUtdRyan) December 5, 2020
Is it just me or does llorente scare the living daylight of everyone else too? I know it was a tough game to come into yesterday but he looked like he had 2 left feet. Worst Iโve seen Leeds this season but credit to Chelsea #lufc
— Shaun Sorsby (@shaunsorsby5) December 6, 2020
In other Leeds United news, Olivier Giroud blown away by Whites despite 3-1 Chelsea win
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