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Messi on Vilanova's illness and death: "It had a big impact on Barca". We knew he was suffering, we all felt it. It was a difficult season in every sense of the word."
Lionel Messi has spoken about how Barcelona reacted to the death of Tito Vilanova.
The former assistant to Pep Guardiola took charge of the team in July 2012. In December, Vilanova underwent surgery for a cancerous tumor on his parotid gland.
He later also missed team matches due to treatment and left Barcelona in July 2013 for health reasons. Vilanova died suddenly on 25 April 2014.
"What happened to Tito had a very strong impact on us. He wasn't always with us, but we felt everything that was happening."
We knew he was going through a tough time, that he was suffering, and no one knew how it would end. Of course, it affected the team.
"It was a difficult season, in every sense of the word, because of everything that happened," the Argentine footballer said in an interview with the YouTube channel "Simplemente fútbol."