Dani Alves

The Barcelona defender Dani Alves has said that his teammates should not get complacent after opening a massive advantage in the league table. Barcelona have been sensational under the new manager Tito Vilanova.

They have so far dropped only two points in the league all season, while they are unbeaten in the league as well. This coupled with the several problems within their arch rivals Real Madrid meant that they currently have a 15 point advantage in the table. Hence, there has been a suggestion that Barcelona might relax their approach in the forthcoming games.

The Barcelona defender Dani Alves has said that he is extremely happy with the clean sheet kept in with the team in the recent Champions League match against Spartak Moscow.

Barcelona managed a 3-0 victory in the match, which was one of their first clean sheets after a long time. Even though the team has been hugely successful under the new manager Tito Vilanova in terms of getting the results, they have not been solid at the back due to a number of injury problems. However, the game against Spartak Moscow finished as a good victory for Barcelona in every sense.

The defender of Barcelona, Daniel Alves, has recovered from his thigh injury and he is expected to feature for Barcelona in the match against Rayo Vallecano which is going to be played at Estadio Teresa Rivero on Saturday. Alves has not played in the last two matches for Barcelona because of the injury in his left thigh. Alves had discovered that injury while playing in the match against Real Madrid on 7th of October.

Barcelona hasn’t got the services of its regular first team defenders in the last few games. Carlos Puyol has been out of the team due to the elbow injury, while, Gerard Pique hasn’t been playing due to the foot injury. Alves also injured himself in the match against Madrid two weeks back. Because of the absence of these players, Barcelona struggled with its defense in the last few matches. Barca conceded seven goals in its last three matches. So, the return of Alves is definitely great news for the Barcelona camp.

The Barcelona defender Dani Alves has said that the Brazilian fans should not be criticising the team if they have a bad performance. Instead, they should at least be praising and encouraging the youngsters within the squad.

Brazil will be hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup. As a result, there is a lot of pressure in the football crazy nation for them to lift the trophy in their own backyard. Dani Alves acknowledges that it certainly will not be easy especially given that the home support, which is expected to provide a lot of stick if something goes wrong, will not be able to motivate them.

The 29 year old right back, who has been a key member of the Blaugrana team since joining from Sevilla for £23 million in 2008, has publicly stated his unhappiness with the club for not moving to deny any speculation that he would leave the club.

Following the Catalan side’s failure to reclaim their Champions League crown after being knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winners Chelsea, the Brazilian was reported to be on the way out of the club having allegedly had a number of bust-ups with then manager Pep Guardiola.

Big spending Manchester City were the side thought to have the most realistic prospect of signing Alves, with firstly a £28 million bid then a player plus cash deal involving Aleksander Kolarov touted in the media.

The Barcelona right back Dani Alves has criticised the supporting staff at the Catalan club for bringing up rumours regarding his future. The 28-year-old former Sevilla right back was one of the first signings of the Guardiola era.

He has been instrumental in helping Barcelona lifted the 14 trophies they have acquired the last four seasons. However, there have been recent rumours that Dani Alves could be interested in a new challenge, with many Russian clubs keen on signing him. The Brazilian international has been having a niggling injury prior to the start of the pre-season, but he has revealed that he is fit and ready to start the pre-season.

Barcelona defender Dani Alves has confirmed that he wants to remain at the club till the end of this current contract. The Brazilian defender has been linked with a move away from Barcelona after a dip in his performances lately.

The former Sevilla defender was dropped for the second leg encounter against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final. It was a match that Barcelona managed to draw 2-2. As a result, they were eliminated from the Champions League.

Following the exit from the Champions League, Barcelona manager Guardiola announced his decision to step down from his post. Dani Alves was signed by Guardiola, which has sparked rumours that he might leave at the end of the season.

The mind games between Barcelona and Chelsea have begun ahead of the meeting between the two clubs in the semi-final of the Champions League, as Barcelona defender Dani Alves has said that it was the lack of courage within Chelsea that was the reason for their elimination from the highly controversial 2009 Champions League.

A stoppage time goal from Iniesta enabled Barcelona to go into the final at the expense of Chelsea on away goals, but the London club were clearly denied at least four good penalty shouts. However, Dani Alves has said that Barcelona players can do nothing about the refereeing decisions, but they managed to go to the next round because of their will to win.

Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has said that his club came extremely close to signing Barcelona right back Dani Alves a few seasons ago.

However, they had to pull out of the deal due to the lack of cash to sign the right back, who is regarded by many to be the best in the world.

The Spaniard has also revealed that he tried to sign Fiorentina star Stevan Jovetic while he was at Liverpool. Benitez has often been criticised for not being able to build the team capable of winning the league, despite having more than half a decade to do so. However, the former Valencia manager reckons that it was due to the lack of cash he was unable to bring in quality talent to Anfield.

Barcelona defender Dani Alves has said that the club and the players should take responsibility if manager Pep Guardiola leaves the club in the summer.

Guardiola is out of contract with Barcelona at the end of the season. His contract will be coming to an end on June 30, but there seems to be no sign of negotiation. This is because Guardiola has said that he still needs more time to solve his future. There has been speculation that Guardiola is finally thinking that he has achieved everything with Barcelona and wants a new challenge in life. It is thought that Chelsea is one of his destinations after the London club recently sacked manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Now, a replacement has been found for Andre Villas-Boas, as Chelsea have appointed assistant manager Roberto di Matteo on an interim basis, with a new boss coming in in the summer. All this appear to suggest that Guardiola is moving to Chelsea in the summer.