Gavi has already come on as a substitute since returning from injury, but this Saturday brought his first start for over a year as Barça played out a 2-2 draw against Celta at Balaídos. Hansi Flick has sensibly taken the young midfielder's return with caution, but with the player's knee issues now well and truly resolved, the time came to see how he fared from the start.
Gavi returned to the starting line up for FC Barcelona 382 days after his last start at the Volksparkstadion, where Barça were playing Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. His first appearance since recovering from the cruciate ligament injury was against Sevilla, before playing a total of 49 minutes across games with Real Madrid, Espanyol and Real Sociedad in the league and Bayern Munich and Red Star in Europe.
"More important were the three points"
After playing 75 minutes of the game against Celta, Gavi reacted to his return to the starting line up at full time: "I am happy for being in the side from the start, but the most important thing was the three points. We have to learn from our mistakes and win the next game."