Love and you will be loved – Dani Alves is Juventus’ driving force
Love. That is all Dani Alves needs.
The more love you give him, the more you will receive from the charismatic Brazilian right-back, who’s been the major driving force behind Juventus’ semifinal success in the Champions League.
“I like to be loved”, Brazilian international exclaimed earlier this year in an interview with ABC when he was describing his decision to leave the Catalan giants after eight successful years.
“If I’m not loved, I leave.”, he added, sending a strong message to the board of directors who he thinks were ‘false and ungrateful’ towards him.
“The people who run Barcelona have no idea how to treat the footballers.”, he concluded.
One man’s loss, another man’s gain
Dani Alves’ jovial character was not understood deep within the Barcelona hierarchy and the Brazilian was left to fight a huge inner battle with his emotions towards the club and unhappiness that was eating him up from the inside.
Having previously signed a contract extension which included a walk-away-for-free clause, the experienced Brazilian decided to bag his bags and kiss the Spanish club goodbye as he headed off in a new direction in pursuit of happiness.
It did not take too long for former Sevilla and Barcelona man to settle elsewhere as Serie A champions Juventus welcomed him with open arms and warm hearts. The Brazilian did not have the best of starts to his new chapter as he suffered a two-month injury layoff in November 2012 from a broken leg against Genoa, but Alves made a superb comeback to repay Juventus for all the love and support with fantastic performances of late.
Having been discarded by his previous club that went on to shuffle him off the books without regrets and replace him with a younger substitute, Dani Alves now stands as a confirmation of Juventus’ brilliant transfer policy.
Bianconeri are renowned for their shrewd sense of business and – just as it was the case with Andrea Pirlo in example – Serie A champions have given Alves all the freedom in the world to prove there is still plenty of power juice left in those samba-loving legs of his.
Barcelona, in the meantime, have struggled to find a proper replacement for the world-class right back they rejected so heartlessly. Aleix Vidal was widely underperforming when he was not sidelined, whereas it was Sergi Roberto who was forced to fill in the position until the better solution comes along.
The Catalan giants have been linked with the host of names but they must be well aware by now that replacing a world-class player such as Dani Alves is not going to be an easy task.
Still the world-class right-back
Alves’ sizzling performances at Juventus are showing Barcelona what they are missing as the Brazilian keeps putting in top-notch displays at both ends of the pitch. The two-legged tie against AS Monaco stands as the perfect example of Alves’ unwithering quality and strength.
Having dominated the first leg in Monaco with two fantastic assists for double scorer Gonzalo Higuain, Dani Alves added another one in Turin when he placed the ball on a plate for Mario Mandzukic inside the box.
But it was his stunning goal that highlighted his overall influence over the two legs.
Danijel Subasic punched the ball to the edge of the box in a clumsy attempt to clear a corner when Alves smashed a first-time volley with an instinct of a world-class striker. A goal to be proud of left Juventus cruising as Dani Alves effectively booked and confirmed Bianconeri’s ticket to Cardiff.
Dani Alves’ ability to reinvent himself and transform in order to accommodate his head coach’s every tactical idea is the Brazilian’s biggest strength even at the age of 34. Alves is showing no signs of stopping down as he helped making his team the firm favourites at at 11/10 betting odds to win the coveted Champions League trophy.
And with Juventus on route to sixth in a row Serie A title, with their place in the Coppa Italia final booked already, Dani Alves’ chances of grabbing a treble are looking rather good.
With love comes success and Dani Alves appears to be the perfect example.
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