'All the teams have possibilities' - Spain legend David Villa on Barcelona's Champions League hopes, 'amazing' Lamine Yamal and 'great opportunity' for U.S. to host World Cup

David Villa knows the pressure of the Champions League. After all, he has played in the famed tournament for four different Spanish clubs. He has won it once, and experienced the agony, too, of losing a final. His one takeaway? Any team, from anywhere, must believe at the start of the season.

"We are in the beginning of the season. To win the Champions League, you need to play very well all year, because the final is in six, seven months," the former Spain striker tells GOAL. "All the teams have possibilities."

And he might just be right. Last year's winners PSG finished towards the bottom of the newly revamped group phase. Liverpool, who topped the group, were bounced before the quarterfinals. This is a really hard thing to win. And Villa doesn't like predictions. After all, Inter making a run to the final surprised everyone.

"You never know in football. Many people expected that the final would be Barcelona vs PSG. But Inter Milan did very well in their run and took out Barcelona," he says.

The Spain legend, who has 15 major trophies to his name, is now a football analyst, working for DAZN and bringing his expertise to the European content-sphere. And even if predictions aren't his favorite, Villa certainly has some opinions on his beloved Barcelona and the Spanish national team.

He broke them all down in the latest edition of Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.

NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Click here to read article