This is a translation of an interview David Villa gave to ‘El Periodico’. The original can be found here.

In six months David Villa has pulverized Ibrahimovic stats goals-wise (17 in the League, 21 in all competitions), and it’s all thanks his seamless integration into the Barcelona team. On a streak with 4 goals in his last 4 games, the striker will make his first visit to the Mestalla since his move this summer.

Did you ever imagine that you can adapt yourself to the Barca system so soon?

I am very pleased with how things are going. It is more or less what I imagined it would be, all those things that people told to me before my move. Of course, I already have a lot of friends at the club and had often talked about what Barca is like with them before. But being a very special season [debut year], it is even better than the previous two, goals-wise, and those were impressive [seasons].

An awkward visit awaits and are you excited about it?

Yes, I’m happy to be returning to the stadium where I lived through so many happy moments and where I still have many friends. It will be a special feeling, as in Gijon.

What kind of feelings?

It is of joy, but in a weird way. You’re facing teams that you root for every Sunday, but when you yourself go there, you’d want to win against them. You feel you are a part of them [that is] until the 90 minutes begin.

What kind of reception are you expecting? Will you celebrate a goal?

I don’t know. I left in a good way, and I have fond memories of the people in Valencia. If I do score, as has happened in Gijon, I’ll try not to express my joy out of respect to the many people who have helped me be who I am today.

Thirty thousand people welcomed you at the Camp Nou.

Even though I’m accustomed to playing in front of so many people, when I stepped into the stadium, I was impressed. I could feel their affection even before I put on my jersey. When my signing fell through last summer, many Barca fans came up to me to say they felt bad that I could not make my move, and that warms my heart.

Have it ever crossed your mind then that you might have missed the train?

If fate has it that I would not be here in 2009 but this summer, then it would not have been for nothing. I never give a thought about what would happened had it turned out differently as I’m very proud of my career, and it would not have changed anything.

Did you think Barca might have given up on getting you then?

I was almost convinced they were. When you think about it Barca had just made a very big signing with Ibrahimovic, a player who plays in my position, and the amount asked is not that small… I thought the train had passed me by. But I also believed that if I give another good season playing for Valencia, not only Barca but also other teams would be interested in me.

You came to the best Barca team ever witnessed.

When I was with the national team [for the WC2010], after donning my jersey, I imagined myself playing for Barca. It was a little strange. I signed in May but did not get to play until August.

It is a team where the most important thing is precisely its mental aspect. Here the ball is not passed, it flies.

Yes, that’s true. It is a very complicated playing style. But I’m complementing the two main characteristics: the desire to adapt what is good with my style and that of the team. We must not forget that this group of players are accustomed to a style that is played to the perfection, and with players that are adapted to execute it. In midfield, in defense, between the goalposts and those that play upfront, they all work together well, with great mobility, and without a true center-forward.

A system to which you yourself has adapted very well into.

It was hard but with determination and conditioning, it became easy. Barca believed that my playing style fits theirs, and that is the reason why they made such a huge investment in getting me.

Is this what Begiristain told you?

Both Txiki and Raul (Sanllehi), and Laporta himself told me he was relieved. Why? For everything that went on the year before. They were relieved to be able to secure my signing, but I was also relieved.

Guardiola also breathed a sigh of relief.

Now it’s easy to say that Guardiola does everything well. But one must not forget his early beginnings in games against Numancia or Racing, betting on players such as Pedro or Busquets, who are now house-hold names around the world. With him as a coach, this club knows what he wants. But it is not so easy because this system carries with it a lot of risks. Any team can play this way, but nobody does it well enough. Always wanting to hold on to the ball, using it both to attack and defend, has its risk.

What has surprised you the most?

It’s the small details. I have lunch here, dine here, at the Ciutat Esportiva, live football every second, enjoying my time, being with my teammates, but then I’m also able to spend time with my family. That thing about travelling on the same day as the match is good.

Now you’re enjoying Barca but in the past you are suffering from it.

Well yes, there’s no better word to describe it. Before I suffered and now I enjoy it. When I was playing against them, I knew I had to chase the ball around a lot. And even by running a lot we were losing 6-0, 4-0 and 3-0 on my last visits. Now I see that look of frustration on the faces of our rivals. When you play against Barca, it is not a normal week. You prepare a lot of stuffs, then the match comes, you do all those things more or less well, and you still lose. I knew what it feels like to play against Barca.

Your rivals never give in…

This is why this team, that is able to win 16 consecutive matches, and the points that come with it, has in it a lot of merit.

Have you been reinvented as a player?

I don’t know but I’m proud to be able to play in another position that I’m not used to. I like it a lot. Now I’m playing in a different way and yet my performance has not gone down, in personal terms and statistically. I feel good, playing well, the coach trusts me, and my number of goals is equal to that of other years.

So what change?

When defending. In attack, we have enormous freedom to move anywhere, but in the defense, there is a minimum standard that all of us must conform to.

But Barca does not do much running…

It seems so from outside. If we have Leo, the best in the world, running back to recover a ball, it says everything. But it’s not, it is in the way we support each other. The day we stop running is the day when we will be weaker because of the high standard that we have set ourselves.  But will that day come? Definitely not.

Furthermore, your connection with Messi has been immediate.

Even before coming here I have already said he was the best in the world. Now, even more so. And he is obsessed with improving himself every day. He is always looking ahead. This makes him an even better player. Never have I seen anybody like Leo: the control, the speed, the shot, the dribble… Often others will try to kick him, and they could not even touch him.