J.Mascherano: T.Vilanova is vitally important for "Barcelona" club © EuroFootball.com

"Barcelona" defender Javier Mascherano says that he and his teammates happily received the news that head coach Tito Vilanova will return to the team at the end of March. The Catalan team's strategist is finishing his treatment in the United States and, as sports director Andoni Zubizarreta says, should already lead "Barca" in the 29th round of the Spanish championship against Vigo "Celta." The fact that the coach is returning during a crucial part of the season is also pleasing to J. Mascherano. "Before leaving for national team camps, we found out that T. Vilanova will return at the end of March. It was extremely happy news for all the players on the team. The coach is simply vital for the team. Jordi Roura, who replaced him, did a huge amount of work, for which he was often unfairly criticized if we lost. He had to take on an unexpectedly large share of the responsibility, which normally falls on the head coach, but J. Roura handled all tasks flawlessly," the Argentinean confirmed. "Still, T. Vilanova is the team's head coach and we eagerly await his return," added the footballer. J. Mascherano also urged not to underestimate the future opponent of "Barca" in the Champions League. In the quarterfinals of the tournament, the Catalan team will test their strength twice against the very strengthened "Paris Saint-Germain" team. "Many already say that 'Barcelona' is the favorite of this tie and should easily beat the opponents, but we don't think so. It would be unfair to underestimate 'Paris Saint-Germain' in advance. They are a very powerful team that can beat anyone and reach the final of the tournament. Anyway, I think that the initial conclusions can only be drawn after the first leg in Paris," Mascherano concluded.