Former Nottingham Forest loanee Rafa Mir endured a bittersweet night last night as Sevilla faced Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The striker silenced the Madrid faithful after just 12 minutes when he sent a rocket of a header beyond Thibaut Courtois from Marcos Acuna’s corner.
The delight on his face was there for all to see and it was Mir’s sixth goal from 18 games this season.
Scoring one in every three games isn’t bad for a player who in truth, is still getting to grips with the demands of La Liga.
His joy last night was to be short-lived though. Karim Benzema equalised before half-time, with Vinicius Junior scoring a scrumptious late winner for the hosts.
Sevilla still sit fourth in the league and they will hope to compete for a Champions League place during 2021/22.
His goalscoring exploits in Spain continue to baffle Forest supporters. Mir was largely disappointing for the Reds, even if he didn’t start many games.
Mir made 13 appearances in the red of Forest and managed to register just two assists.
He failed to find the net and in truth never looked likely to become a player capable of scoring regular goals in the Championship.
Mir continues to baffle Forest faithful
Those who continue to try and hammer Mir simply don’t understand football and clearly, Forest were just the wrong club for the Spaniard.
In fact, there is an argument that perhaps the Championship was merely the wrong league for the 24-year-old.
He huffed and puffed in the red of Forest but ultimately never got himself a run in Sabri Lamouchi’s side.
Since leaving the Reds, Mir has rebuilt his career, first at Huesca in the Spanish second tier; before scoring goals with them in the top-flight last term.
Now, he’s firing on all cylinders with one of the country’s top teams and at 24 there could still be more to come.
Mir is perhaps another player who has gone onto shine after leaving Forest.