David Villa's stay with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Barcelona-c39078 so far – La Liga Special
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 before moving to Barcelona at the end of the 2009/10 La Liga season. The prolific striker was in demand across the continent but chose Catalonia for his future dwellings. His first year ended with La Liga triumph and
a UEFA Champions League winner’s medal. The 29-year-old still has a lot of football left in him and his journey will be worth watching.
Villa moved to Camp Nou at the back of five successful seasons with Valencia. He forged an immaculate understanding with David Silva over the years, marauding opposition’s third as he raced to goalscoring records in Spanish top flight. With an envious eye
for goal, Villa also boasted of the ability to lay the ball to his teammates as they got in dangerous areas. Where he had 129 goals to go for in his 212 matches for Los Che, his 53 assists were equally impressive as the club earned back-to-back European qualifications.
Barcelona were enthused by the prospect of Villa, who provided a regular goal threat in addition to being comfortable on the left flank; the position was vacant ever since Ronaldinho left the club for Milanese pastures. It was a good offer for the Spaniard
as well. He would play in a squad full of quality individuals challenging for top honours. Villa was to be the answer to Barca’s left sided woes, while the Catalans were his ticket to trophies.
Things looked bright from the start as Villa delighted crowds across http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011. The Spaniard brought his goalscoring 2010 FIFA World Cup form to his new club and was earning the affections of Los Cules. He raced to double-digit goals tally, and was only behind
teammate http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629 by the Christmas break.
As the first half of the season went by smoothly, Villa must have been happy with his performances in the first El Clasico of the season. He was part of the side that gave Real Madrid an embarrassing defeat at Camp Nou, the icing on the cake being his brace
against the Capital club.
The New Year started well for the Spanish international who found the back of the net regularly. More was asked of him, but on the left side of the field away from his central position there was not much he could do. He scored four goals in the first month
of the year and twice won the man of the match award with the Blaugrana.
He continued his performances in February, scoring in four consecutive games for the La Liga winners. However, this marked the beginning of a dry spell that would continue throughout March and would end in the closing days of April. His goal against Osasuna
was also his last for the season in Spanish domestic league.
Villa’s profligacy continued in the Copa del Rey, which Barcelona lost to bitter rivals Real Madrid in the final. On the way to the final, he was part of the squad on five occasions but could hit the back of the net only once.
His UEFA Champions League form saw little improvement. He played twelve games for Blaugrana, playing a total of 944 minutes on the pitch, but carried Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s form into Europe’s elite competition. Only three strikes and a solitary assist hardly
do justice to a player of Villa’s calibre.
All in all, Villa has half a century of competitive matches under his belt for Barcelona while he has added 23 goals and 9 assists to the team’s cause. He found going hard during the second half of the season but this was only a temporary dip in form and
he shall bounce back in the coming season. For Barca, Villa still has a lot to offer, and his efforts will be much needed as the Catalans look to take home six trophies this season.
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