David Villa delighted to play alongside Lionel Messi
New Barcelona forward David Villa today said it was a privilege to be playing for the club and to ply his trade alongside Lionel Messi.
Both players netted in the Catalan giants’ first game of the La Liga campaign against Racing Santander, which ended in a 3-0 victory for Pep Guardiola’s team.
Villa, who moved from Valencia before the 2010 FIFA World Cup for a fee of 40 million euros, struck his first goal for the reigning league champions just after the hour mark when he headed home a Daniel Alves cross after Messi and Andreas Iniesta netted in the first half.
Villa, whose goals helped Spain to win the World Cup this summer, revealed to Spanish daily AS that it was easy for him to slot in the team and play alongside reigning Ballon d’Or winner and 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year Messi. He said that: "It is an honour to play in this team and with players like Messi, the best player in the world. Whoever does not fit in with him, doesn't deserve to be in this team."
Squad 'can cope' without Ibrahimovic
He added that the squad would more than be able to cope with the loss of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who joined Serie A giants AC Milan at the weekend. He said: "I do not manage the squad but we have shown today and in the Super Cup that we are able to do well with the squad we have."
Meanwhile, after the match, Villa told reporters that he was pleased to have settled into life at the Nou Camp. He said that: “This team was already great and it has won everything, so what I wanted to do was settle in as soon as possible at the beginning”
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