Dani Alves believes that Leo Messi’s injury, which will keep the Argentine from playing against Mallorca this weekend, is a “challenge” and “an incentive” for the rest of the Barça squad: “the fact that we don’t have him is an incentive to prove to everyone that we have enough quality to compete without him and show that we can do it just was well when he’s here. It’s a challenge for us to defeat PSG without Messi, but, obviously, it would be better if he was there.” At this point, Messi’s fitness remains in question for the upcoming Champions League match on Wednesday.
Satisfied with the match in Paris
On the team’s performance at the Parc des Princes, the Brazilian said that he’s “very pleased with the result (2-2), even though we left with a bitter taste in our mouths seeing how the game played out.” Alves went on to say that he’s “pleased with how the the team competed and with how we did our job. It was much better than the day we faced AC Milan at the San Siro.”
Volunteers to play in the middle of the defence
When asked about Barça’s many absences on defence (Puyol, Adriano and now Mascherano), Alves noted that the injuries “don’t help the team, but they’ll be back soon.” He then offered to play in the centre back role if the manager deems it necessary: “if I remember correctly, I played in that position with Guardiola when we played a back line of three. It’s easy for me to adapt: if I’m asked to attack, then I attack; if I’m asked to defend, then I defend, and if I’m asked to do both, I do my best. I’m at the disposition of the managers.”
“Football is for footballers”
When asked about the officiating in Paris, Alves was clear: “in football the referees should hardly be noticeable. Football is for footballers and they [referees] should go unnoticed. If they make the news it’s because they’ve made a mistake.” Was the end result against PSG conditioned by the referee? “Obviously, but we have to do a better job so something like that can’t happen again.”
