David Villa: Barcelona ready for Champions League
Barcelona striker David Villa has revealed that the team is desperate to put their La Liga disappointment against Hercules behind them as they prepare for their opening UEFA Champions League fixture.
The Catalan giants suffered their first defeat at Camp Nou in the league for more than a year at the hands of Hercules, who stunned the reigning champions 2-0 after Nelson Valdez scored twice.
Despite that setback — which leaves Barca in seventh place, three points behind Atletico Madrid and Valencia who have both won their first two league matches this season — Villa said that his club will not fail again as they begin their Champions League campaign against Panathanaikos at Camp Nou tomorrow.
Spanish daily newspaper Sport quoted the 28-year-old hitman as saying that, “Tomorrow we will turn around this setback, forget the last game and get off to a good start in the Champions League to achieve the first three points. The team’s approach to the game is as it should have been, but football is very even today, any team can win on a good day and everything went perfect for them.”
Along with Greek champions Panathanaikos, Barcelona will have to contend with Danish outfit Copenhagen and Russian side Rubin Kazan — who stunned Barcelona 2-1 in the group stage last year — if they are to progress to the knockout phase of the competition.
Meanwhile, 2010 FIFA World Cup winner Villa has pointed to international duty as a possible reason for Barcelona not performing at their best against league minnows Hercules on Saturday.
The majority of the Barcelona first-team was on international duty last week, most of them with Spain, and Villa claimed that playing for his country did not give the best warm-up for the league match.
He said that, “The two matches against Liechtenstein and Argentina have not been physically or mentally ideal for us. I just hope to score as many goals as possible. I have not set myself a target — I just hope to get close to my figures of previous years.”
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