349 days ago, FC Barcelona was in difficulty in La Liga. Under the leadership of During a meeting against Georgia with Spain on the occasion of the November rally, the young midfielder came off injured after serious contact with the knee. Terrible news for a player who has only played one after another since his debut at 17 and who was surely going to be absent from the field for a long time.
But now, 349 days later, smiles have returned to Catalonia. Under the leadership of Hansi Flick, Barça is first in La Liga and has a string of good results after having given confidence to players like Lewandowski and Raphinha who have been walking on water since the start of the season. Yesterday, during the big victory against Sevilla FC, emotion even took over Barcelona’s Montjuic stadium. Indeed, in the 83rd minute of play, Gavi returned to the field. Entering the game in place of Pedri, the native of Los Palacios y Villafranca even inherited the captain’s armband to the cheers of the Barcelona public. Touching a few balls, Gavi showed that he was now ready to continue the meetings with Barça in the coming weeks.
Gavi very emotional after his return with FC Barcelona
Obviously moved after this return to competition, Gavi logically showed his joy at finally emerging from a tunnel which kept him away from the field for more than 10 months in a post-match press conference: “I’m very happy to be back in the team after such a long time. The truth is that I have been dreaming of this moment for many months and I am grateful to my teammates because they made it easier for me. My worst memory? Watching your team from the outside, every match, is very difficult. You have to enjoy every moment and appreciate things. This is something I learned and I feel very lucky to be here today. When all the fans and teammates love and appreciate you, you feel very lucky. Pedri who gave me the armband? I thank Pedri for the gesture he made and the supporters because they have always shown me their love and the least I can do is show it to them. A Culé always wants to wear the armband of this club and it’s one of my dreams.”
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On its social networks, Gavi issued a more sober message but still with a certain emotion: “Culers, thank you very much for your support today. The truth is that I am very happy and satisfied, including the victory. Now we have to win the next two matches. I love you all very much.» In addition to the normal emotion of the Spanish international (27 caps, 5 goals), all his teammates also appreciated this providential return. Even his trainer Hansi Flick, who has only known him for a few months, was very happy with the return of the 20-year-old midfielder: “I am very happy for Gavi. His return gave me goosebumps. It was important for him and for the team that he came back. Today was his goal. He wanted to be on the bench and his dream was to play five minutes. The whole club is happy for him.» A providential return which comes at the best of times: this week, Barça hosts Bayern Munich on Wednesday (9 p.m.) before traveling to the Santiago-Bernabeu next Saturday (9 p.m.) for a Clasico which promises to be hot.
