Barcelona fans will never forget the date.April 26, 2017. The date Javier Mascherano scored his first goal for Barca in his 319th appearance for the club.It came in the Blaugrana’s 7-1 win over Osasuna, which keeps them top of La Liga.Mascherano scored to make it 6-1 after Barcelona were awarded a penalty. Ivan Rakitic was seen handing the ball to the Argentinian, who duly dispatched with aplomb.You only had to see Luis Suarez’s reaction on the bench to understand the joy that came with Mascherano’s first goal.

“The fans behind the goal were chanting for Mascherano to take it,” Barcelona boss Luis Enrique commented afterwards, via Barcelona’s website.

“I am happy for him – he is a key player for the Club and he has shown that down the years.”

Watch: Mascherano's goal

Enrique might consider putting Mascherano on penalty duty in future considering the ease at which he blasted the ball past Osasuna goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.

Why Rakitic didn't take it

It looked as if Rakitic was simply being generous towards his teammate, but that wasn’t entirely the case. The Croatian wanted to take the penalty, but was ordered by Gerard Pique to hand it to Mascherano.

"I wanted to take it, but Pique said to let Mascherano take it and he was right -- you have to listen to the president,” Rakitic said, per Sport.

“I think it was perfect.”

Mascherano tried getting out of it

And how did Mascherano feel about it? Well, he didn’t fancy it.

“At first I tried to get out of it but under pressure from my team mates and the crowd I decided to take it on,” the former Liverpool defender said, per Barca’s website.

“It would have been a fun moment to remember in year to come had I missed it. I wasn’t sure about it at all but it was difficult to say no to my team mates.”

Rakitic's tweet

Afterwards, Rakitic dedicated a classy tweet to Mascherano, adding a touch of banter at the end.

“Congrats to @Mascherano for your first goal with @fcbarcelona,” the 29-year-old said. “I hope we don’t have to wait another 319 games for the next.”

Real Madrid responded to Barcelona’s thumping victory with a demolition of their own, beating Deportivo La Coruna 6-2 to remain level on points with the Catalan club with a game in hand.