First Barca season 'very difficult' - Vermaelen

Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen hopes he can finally deliver for the European champions after a "very difficult" first season at the club.

The Belgium international joined Barca from Arsenal in August last year, but he battled injuries and made just one appearance.

"It was very difficult for a lot of reasons but mainly because I was suffering from injury," he told the club's website.

"You come to a new club and want to prove your worth, but you can't because of an injury. And I had to adapt to new things. A new life, new coach, new city. It was tough."

Vermaelen has started in both of Barca's La Liga victories to start the campaign, including scoring the winner against Malaga.

"It'll be a very long season. The ambitions are the same. We won the treble last season and we know it won't be easy to do it again, but we'll try to," Vermaelen said.

"We have the same team. Our ambitions are intact and we'll do all we can, game by game, and see what happens."

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