Vilanova tests Villa’s patience

David Villa didn’t even get any chance to play against Real Madrid in the clasico on Sunday evening and was the first to leave the pitch after the final whistle.

Villa was seen warming up for 20 minutes with Marc Bartra and Alex Song. At times villa was seen looking at the Barca bench and Tito Vilanova. The coach had other plans and was naive to Villa’s looks, preferring to shout orders to his team front the edge of the marked area for managers.

Villa didn’t get to play against the arch enemy not even for a minute and when the final whistle was blown, he marched off the pitch with is head low – who could blame him? Nobody wants to miss out on the chance to play in a clasico against Real Madrid and the player’s feelings would be completely understood and even more so when you are a player of the quality of David Villa. The player felt he was ready to play and he was.

The player has irreproachable conduct thus far and after eight months sidelined with a broken left tibia, he was the first to admit that he could not come back all of a sudden and pick up where he left off for Barca and the team as he needed time to get back into the swing of things and prove that he had recovered well from his injury. Villa  needed to be patient, and so far he has.

This season so far,  Villa has played only one game in Barca’s starting eleven. It was at the Granada match  in which he played 54 minutes and in which he was seen exchanging words in a heated conversation with Messi after the Argentine accused him of  not giving a first time pass.

Last week in Seville, the Spanish international came onto the pitch when there were just 16 minutes left of time and got the winning goal. It was his third goal in the league this season and he was clearly seeking a first team place. Villa thus faced the week, in which the club traveled to Lisbon in the Champions League to meet Benfica and would later receive Real Madrid in the clasico on the Sunday, full of renewed hope and vigor.

Against Benfica, he played only eight minutes and against Real Madrid, he warmed up on the sidelines in vain heated in vain and could not repress his direct gaze at coach Tito Vilanova. So now, the question is where does Villa go from now. He has been very patient, but by his actions at the Camp Nou on Sunday where he didn’t even get a few minutes, it seems to be running rather thin.