By Dan Harrison

John Carew admits some happy memories will come flooding back to him when former club Valencia visit Villa Park on Friday evening.

The veteran striker's five years at the Mestalla, between 2000 and 2004, were among the most successful of his career.

During his time in Spain, Carew won the La Liga title and reached the 2001 Champions League final, where Los Che suffered an agonising penalty shootout defeat to Bayern Munich.

It will be the first time the Norwegian has faced his former team since departing for Turkish outfit Besiktas.

But he looks back on his time with Valencia with great fondness.

"We had a fantastic team at the time," said Carew. "We were Champions League contenders and being in the Champions League every year.

"We were playing against some of the best teams in the world and beating them. It was fantastic to be part of a team like that."

Despite the heartbreaking final defeat to Bayern, Carew still reflects on the dramatic night at Milan's San Siro as one of the highlights of his career.

He came within a whisker of winning European football's top prize and coolly tucked away his penalty before Valencia lost the shootout 5-4.

Although the current Los Che side are not as strong as the team of the early noughties, Carew believes they will still provide Villa with a good test.

"We played a great game in the Champions League final but unfortunately we lost on penalties after being ahead in the game - it was a shame," he added.

"It would have been nice to have a Champions League medal. At the time I was hoping to get the chance again with Valencia.

"It was close again two years after with Lyon in the quarter-final and we lost in the last minute to Milan.

"I had a few chances and I played in some great games in the competition, but, unfortunately I don't have a Champions League medal.

"I won the Spanish league when I was there and that was the best league in the world at that time - I am proud of that.

"Valencia at that time were probably the best team in Europe.

"They were a team that was in the Champions League final two years in a row. Valencia now are nothing compared to that one but are still a good team."