Arsenal fans watching Villarreal's incredible 4-4 draw with Barcelona last night will have been pleased to see the performance of their former midfielder Santi Cazorla.
An extremely popular player in north London, Cazorla's time at the Gunners was interrupted by an Achilles tendon problem which required eight operations and extension rehabilitation to get him back on track.
It was feared he may never play football again or, worse still, that he would need an amputation. But he never stopped believing and after finally leaving Arsenal last summer, he has rebuilt his career at Villarreal.
Against Barcelona last night, he was at the heart of everything Villarreal did well, dropping deep to pull the strings and orchestrating most of his side's attacking moves.
He completed 44 of his 49 passes, created eight chances (five of which came from open play, three via set pieces) and also provided an assist for substitute Carlos Bacca.
That was a wonderful ball threaded through the Barca defence, perfectly splitting centre-backs Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti to leave the Colombian striker one on one with Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
It was the kind of vision which Arsenal fans will have seen on a regular basis during the Spaniard's time at the Emirates and after everything he has been through, it is an absolute joy to see.
Former Swansea midfielder Michu, now technical secretary at Real Oviedo, tweeted "Santiago Cazorla..." during last night's match, followed by three top hat emojis to highlight his stellar performance.
That was met with a number of replies, including one from Malaga player Dani Pacheco, telling Michu to "sign him up" in his new role at Oviedo, currently seeking promotion to La Liga.
At the moment, though, the 34-year-old will be determined to help his current club Villarreal – where he started his career – to remain in Spain's top flight and having scored twice against Real Madrid in a 2-2 draw in January, he showed again last night that despite his age and all the injury problems, he can still mix it with the very best.
Long may it continue.
