After the disappointment of the Cup Final and with the Champions League semis on the horizon, Barça entertain Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday night in a game that Guardiola’s players know is key to maintaining their fight for the title. The boss has insisted that if the team win all their home games then the league will be theirs again and there could be no more suitable opponent to start that winning run in for David Villa than Osasuna, a team he’s scored 10 times against, more than any other side in his league career after Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao and Deportivo.

10 goals, 10 wins

Villa made his debut against Osasuna in the 2003/04 season in Pamplona and scored the winning goal for Zaragoza, Since then, he has scored the winning goal over and over again against the Basque team, with both Zaragoza and Valencia. In the 15 games he’s faced them, he’s chalked up 10 goals, with 9 of them proving decisive.

First choice for Guardiola

Villa has so far scored 21 goals this season, the same number as Ibrahimovic managed all last season, but he has now gone 11 games without finding the net. The boss and his fellow teammates are quick to point out though, that Villa has been fundamental in the team’s play with his pressing, mobility and ability to make space, all of which have made him a first choice for Guardiola, missing just 1 league game, 1 Champions League game and 4 Cup ties so far this campaign.