David Villa, as a world champion in South Africa, had won the Cup and Super Cup for Valencia. In his first year at Barça he’s added to his honours with another Super Cup, the League and the Champions League, and has scored 23 goals.
Next season he’ll have the opportunity of winning the European Super Cup in Monaco, and the
FIFA World Club Championship in Japan. Although he scored less goals than in his last season with
Valencia (28), Villa’s 23 goals have helped FC Barcelona win trophies.
Almost always in the starting line-up
Villa didn’t require an adaptation phase. In the first game of the
season Villa scored his first goal, against Racing Santander, and his place in Pep
Guardiola’s starting line-up was a constant throughout the season. Usually starting out wide
and always putting in lots of effort, Villa played 34 of the 38 league games, 12 of the 13 possible
in the Champions League, and 5 of 9 in the Spanish Cup. Villa totalled 4,170 minutes on the pitch
in the season which ended on May 28th in London.
Second top scorer
David Villa was the team's second leading scorer with 23 goals (18 in the League, 4 in the
Champions, and 1 in the Cup), and on top of that he provided 6 goal assists. Statistically, he was
behind only Messi, who managed some stratospheric stats: 53 goals and 24 assists.
Key moments
While it’s true that, as like all the World’s top
goalscorers, Villa had periods of drought, his goals were almost always crucial, either by scoring
first or equalising. In most cases Villa’s goals were vital in winning the 3 points or
getting through cup ties. Possibly the most important goal he scored was against Arsenal in London,
which improved Barça’s chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals, following the 2-1
defeat..
And certainly the most celebrated goals he scored were in the Camp Nou against Real Madrid on
the night of the 5-0 drubbing and the goal that closed the season, the third goal, beating Van der
Sar at Wembley. It was the goal that sealed the game, scored by a player who came to Barcelona to
live moments like the ones at Wembley and Levante, where Barça won the Champions League and League,
respectively.