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Robert Pires admits he was pleased to be back in action after making his first start of the season for Villarreal in their 2-0 victory over Barcelona at the weekend.

Former Arsenal midfielder Pires’ debut for his new club was delayed after he suffered a knee ligament shortly after his move last summer.

“It was not about revenge for the Champions League final defeat last season for me,” Pires said in a press conference.

“The last time that I started a competitive game was against Barca. We lost the final and it was an awful feeling, but that is now history.

“My desire was just to play again and to help the team and thankfully I was able to do that.

“I really enjoyed playing again after eight months.”

Pires scored on his return to action after playing in a withdrawn striker’s role behind Diego Forlan.

“I felt fine playing behind the striker because I was involved a lot, although I was very tired at the end,” he continued.

“That is normal though after playing for so long.”

Pires has had to watch the team he joined last summer from Arsenal from the sidelines for much of the season.

“We need that winning mentality, where everyone believes that we can win. We talked a lot during the week about that and it was good,” he added.

“Now we have to look to win all the games that we can because we all want to play in Europe.

“We proved what I have always thought and that was that we can beat anyone when we play like this,” he stated.

“We had some luck, that cannot be denied, but we also played very well.

“When the ball came to me I thought that I could not mess it up. It was my moment and that this was the game to do it in. I was fortunate to have that chance.”

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