How did Emi Buendia perform alongside Teemu Pukki at Norwich City? | OneFootball

Highlights

Norwich City's former duo of Emiliano Buendia and Teemu Pukki were a handful, to say the least, especially in the Championship, but just how much pain did they cause their opposition?

Both the Argentinian winger and the Finnish forward joined the club in the summer of 2018. Over their run in the Norwich team together, they won promotion to the Premier League twice, and they won the league on both occasions (2018/19 and 2020/21).

The club's inability to stay in the top flight of English football was a bit of a stain on them, and some of their top players. They looked too good for the Championship but weren't able to hang with the big boys at the top table of English football.

Their dominance at the second tier not only led to lifting titles, but also to some very impressive numbers.

Emi Buendia and Teemu Pukki's joint record at Norwich

Of all the players that the Argentine winger has played with, he has shared the pitch with Pukki the second most times, and he has the most joint participation in goals (goal and assist) with the now 33-year-old than any other player in his career. Buendia has only played more games with Max Aarons (114) than he has with the striker, and, as well as the full-back (8,679), Tim Krul has shared the pitch with the winger for longer than Pukki, in terms of minutes played (7,881).

Pukki spent two years longer with the Canaries than Buendia did. He made the move to join Minnesota United in the summer transfer window of 2023, whereas the 27-year-old signed for Aston Villa in 2021, after his very impressive 2020/21 campaign.

Buendia and Pukki's individual records whilst playing together at Norwich

Carrow Road was home to the pairing for three seasons, but, despite the fact that they only directly combined for 21 goals in that time - seven per season - they scored and assisted plenty more with the rest of the Norwich players.

Those two most recent title-winning seasons saw them score or assist 129 goals between them. The 18/19 edition of the Championship saw the Villa player rack up eight goals and 12 assists, while the forward from Finland found the back of the net 29 times, and helped others to do so on nine occasions.

20/21 was on another level. Pukki's performance did take an ever so slight dip to 26 goals and four assists, but Buendia shattered his previous performances in the second tier by producing a combined 31 goals and assists in that campaign.

Norwich racked up 191 points in those two seasons, and had a combined goal difference of +75.

Buendia and Pukki's records since leaving Norwich

After the mind-blowing campaign he had in the first season that was fully affected by Covid, the 27-year-old hasn't fully found his feet for Aston Villa. Injuries and general inconsistency have been the main issues for him. When he returns to fitness, he should be in a much better position to succeed at Villa Park, especially given the nature of the performances he put in during the club's pre-season tour.

Pukki fully hit the ground running in the MLS. He joined during the middle of their 2023 season, but he recorded 10 goals in 14 games, despite having no proper pre-season to prepare him for his new challenge. This year's edition of the USA's top football competition has only recently got under way, and the 33-year-old has continued his goalscoring ways of last year.