44 year old spanish footballer, David Villa, on the value of a runners up medal in the Champions League: “I have the silver medal from Atleti's final on the same shelf as the gold one I won with Barça.
And my son Luca was asking me why I had it there… And I say: ‘Do you know how hard it is to reach a Champions League final and lose it?’.
I would have loved to win it, of course, and we would have gone much further into Atlético de Madrid's history as the first ones to win it, and all that you want.
But let's analyse it: Do you know how hard it is to reach a Champions League final in that season? It wasn't Atlético de Madrid's current squad.
It was a very short squad, where we had a lot of young guys, where we had to go to the Camp Nou and leave it all out physically a week before, when Madrid was resting at home already preparing for the Champions League final… It can't be a thorn in my side.
Would we have liked to win it? Of course…, but you have to give value to what was achieved.”