Carles Puyol: "The best part of the season is here"

Puyol on Barça TV. PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB
The FC Barcelona center back says that Barça are on form coming into the Champions League match against Manchester City

Captain Carles Puyol played alongside Gerard Piqué in the middle of FC Barcelona’s defence on Saturday night for the first time this season. After the match against Rayo Vallecano, the captain revealed that his knee injury is a thing of the past, and that he was subbed out of the match as a precaution.

All set for the Champions League

When asked about yesterday’s game, Puyol said, “the team played a great game against a team that came to the Camp Nou to play football – that forces you to be constantly intense.” The players are now focused on the Champions League knock out round tie against Manchester City, and Puyol admitted that “the best part of the season is here” and “we played well, just as we did against Real Sociedad – we’re confident coming into Tuesday’s game.”

On the team’s rival, Manchester City, Puyol noted that “we’re going up against a very good team, with fantastic players, but we’re on form and I think both teams have the same chances of going through.”

Improving daily

The FC Barcelona captain has suffered through and recovered from three knee surgeries over the past year but little by little Puyol is recovering his form: “My knee is doing well, it’s better every day, I want to enjoy each day and we’ll see how far I get.”

Once again, the captain showed his commitment to the team: “I’m ready to help the team in anything that I can, both on and off the pitch.”