Barca star Gavi thrilled to be back
Gavi reflected on his emotional return for Barcelona after his long-awaited return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The 20 year-old underwent surgery after suffering the injury in Spain's Euro 2024 qualifying win over Georgia last year.
He subsequently missed the rest of the season, along with Spain's triumph at the Euros.
Gavi made his return to action as a substitute during Barca's 5-1 win over Sevilla in LaLiga, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.
"I'm very happy to be back with the team. I've been dreaming about this moment for many months and I'm grateful to everyone because they've made it so much easier for me," an emotional Gavi said.
"The worst thing during the lay-off is not playing with my teammates. Seeing the team from the outside is very hard and gives you a different perspective, you learn that you have to enjoy every moment and appreciate things.
"I feel very lucky to be here today, recovered, because this is my life and what I've been doing all my life and I've missed it a lot.
"When you see all the fans and team-mates over there and they show you that they love you and appreciate you, you feel very lucky."
Hansi Flick added: "For him [Gavi] it was a fantastic moment, a fantastic feeling.
"The result was great. It was a perfect day for him and also for us."
Barcelona are top of LaLiga on 27 points, three ahead of Real Madrid in second and seven clear of Atletico Madrid in third.
Barca will host Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Thursday before next weekend's Clasico against Madrid.
"Winning like this is very important for the games to come," Gavi's team-mate Pedri said. "Today we had to leave with more than just the three points, we needed that good feeling we got.
"The coach told us that there was going to be spaces at the edge of the box and we took advantage of that."
