His two assists against AS Monaco confirm what has become obvious.
Dani Alves got himself a couple of assists as Juventus defeated AS Monaco 2-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal, and it’s become quite clear Barcelona botched his departure last year.
Alves has come through in a big moment yet again, as he did for Barcelona for years. Meanwhile, the Catalans spent most of this season looking for a right-back as Sergi Roberto and Aleix Vidal, for different reasons, did not always provide an answer.
Sure, they had their moments but they were also quite inconsistent. Roberto never looked comfortable as a converted fullback, while Vidal got injured just as he was getting into form. In any case, the position has been a bit of a mess this term.
The Barcelona board did not want to take on Alves’s wages for an extended period of time, so they allowed him to leave for free. They felt saving on his admittedly high wages was worth the risk.
But despite murmurings that Alves was a spent force for ... oh, maybe the last 5 years ... it’s Alves who is en route to the CL final and not Barcelona.
True, Alves is no longer at his peak, but even then, he remains a top player. Let’s not forget that at his peak he was a fearsome power, and arguably one of the best players in any position bar none. He’s not there anymore, but he’s still useful, particularly in big games.
Let’s flashback to the last time Barcelona won the Champions League, in 2015. With so many stars it can be easy to forget that it was Alves robbing a ball high up the pitch and passing off to Lionel Messi for the opener against Bayern Munich. Or that it was Alves who made that long, accurate aerial through ball for Luis Suarez to smash into the net for a 2-1 Clasico win over Real Madrid as Barça took a giant step toward the treble.
True, at times he was a frustrating figure in his later years at Barcelona, as he did not have the recovery speed or stamina to defend his flank after going up to help the attack he once had. And I’ll be the first to say I moaned when he sent way too many completely inaccurate crosses that his dwarf teammates would never reach.
Yeah, it was not perfect, but the hate that he generated was crazy. So too were the repeated claims that his backups - Martin Montoya, Aleix Vidal, or Sergi Roberto - were already better than him.
Alves has a mercurial personality; he’s clearly an intense person. He felt disrespected by the Barcelona board, and he is proving a point to them. It’s too bad it had to come to this for them to take the message.
from Barca Blaugranes - All Posts http://ift.tt/2qterSD
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