Gonçalo Guedes’ was the name on everybody’s lips this past weekend after his sterling display against Osasuna, as he contributed one of the goals of the season and also set up teammate Rodrigo to score.

The Portuguese is regarded as one of the most gifted players in LaLiga, but has had his progress hampered by injuries over the past two years. He spoke to VCF Media about the confidence boost that his showing at Mestalla has provided, and how he is getting back to full fitness during the return to action for the Spanish top flight.

“The game went well for me. It was very important for me, because it had been a long time since I had scored a goal or provided an assist. It’s always good to do that; it gives me a lot of confidence and I want to continue that way, doing as much as possible to help the team. In the end, that’s what matters and what is most important to me,” said the versatile attacker, who dribbled past four defenders on route to his incredible first goal of the year.

“It's always good whenever you get a goal or an assist, and you feel that you’ve had a good game and helped the team, and the result is positive for your team. I think that I helped them, which is the most important thing. I came out of the game happy with having done that, and confident for the next game.”

Guedes is hoping to provide more of the same in the remaining fixtures, and put his injury woes behind him.

“After another long injury layoff, coming back and getting on the pace following three months out isn’t easy. There was the injury, preseason and then the pandemic. I felt good, and am proud of the work that I did during the quarantine period. I feel really good and I’ve worked very hard, training in the gym and giving my all in training sessions with the team every day. It was a step forward that has given me confidence, and I want to continue that way. There are few games to go and we are close to our objective. We want to try everything to get there.”