Simao looks back at time with Barcelona

Asked about how he feels about having to face the club he played for between 1999 and 2001, Atlético Madrid winger Simão Sabrosa (29) said in an interview with Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo that he doesn't regret his stay:

"Barcelona is a very big club and the two years I was there were very important for my development. I don't feel as if I have something to prove.

The people in Barcelona know why I left. I did it because I wanted to play. I arrived there when I was only 19 years old and at a difficult moment for the club, with changes in the technical staff and problems in the board."

In an interview with Spanish football weekly paper Don Balón, Simão also looked back at his time at Barcelona: "Despite being a wing player, Van Gaal only allowed me to touch the ball two times: a control and a centre or a control and a pass. I think that influenced my style. If a coach wants, he can change your way of playing.

I know Guardiola more as a player but it's clear that he's doing great as a coach right now. His Barça is playing fabulously because they have a lot of quality players but that doesn't mean it's easy to be the coach of that team because you should be able to deal with such a group.

I call him Pepe. I was his team-mate for two years and back then you already saw he had a coaching attitude. During training sessions, Pepe already liked to talk with everybody, he put us in position, he helped us making the right movements so we could receive his passes.

When I arrived with only 19 years, I always sat between him and Figo if we had to take the plane. It was a little unreal to sit side by side with those two great players I had seen on television so many times. Will I ever where the blaugrana shirt again? No. I don't say it's impossible, but I don't see myself playing there again."

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