Returning to Catalonia almost six years after his departure, the Brazilian was not selected to play in the Europa League. And he wouldn’t have taken it well.
Leaving FC Barcelona at the end of the 2015/2016 season at the age of 33, Daniel Alves has been around a lot. Turin, Paris, São Paulo, the Brazilian side has always shown his desire to play. Playing the most titled in the history of football, the defender then surprised everyone by returning to Catalonia… at 38 years old.
Coming to lend a hand to one of his favorite clubs in great difficulty, Alves officially signed up with the Blaugranas for six months on November 12, 2021. A real choice from the heart. “Almost five years of fighting like crazy to get to this moment. I didn’t know it would be this long, I didn’t know it would be this hard, but I knew deep in my heart and soul that this day would come.
Ardently desired by Xavi, Dani Alves however had to wait until January 2022 to play his first minutes with Barça. So far, the veteran has played two Copa del Rey matches, a Spanish Supercopa semi-final and a La Liga match. Without forgetting two meetings with Brazil counting for the qualifiers for the 2022 Cup.
Alves the sacrificed
In the meantime, the Auriverde international (121 caps, 8 goals) has seen the arrival of three other reinforcements: Ferran Torres, Adama Traoré and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Good news for Barça. A little less for him. Indeed, the Catalan club has submitted changes to UEFA regarding its list of qualified players for the rest of the Europa League competition.
And the regulations of the governing body of European football are clear: each club can insert a maximum of three new players per list. With four winter recruits, Xavi therefore had to make a choice. And it was Alves who was sacrificed. A news that upset him. According to Sport, the Brazilian took the news badly. Which can be understood given the traffic jam in attack (Traoré, Aubameyang, Dembélé, Ansu, Depay, Braithwaite, De Jong, Torres) and when we know that an undesirable Ousmane Dembélé (in the eyes of Laporta) has been kept .
