Barcelona face Real Madrid in El Clasico on Sunday evening at the Santiago Bernabeu, but days before the clash Dani Alves took out a bicycle with ESPN journalist Martin Ainstein along the beaches of Castelldefels to talk football as carried by Mundo Deportivo.
They touched on many things, notably Alves’ desire to play alongside his old friend Lionel Messi for Barcelona once again. The Argentine left on a free transfer last summer for Paris Saint-Germain after it became evident that Barcelona were unable to renew his expired contract at Camp Nou. But for Alves, at least, the 34-year-old shouldn’t be spending his final years in France.
“For me, Leo isn’t enjoying himself,” the Brazilian said. “For me, he’s out of place there. I’m going to say something that Leo always told me; ‘Where are you going to go that’s going to be better than here?’ And I proved it. But hopefully he can come back. If he does, he can come back and play with me.”
Alves, 38, knows what he’s talking about as he alluded to. The Brazilian left Barcelona in 2016 for Juventus before spells with PSG and Sao Paulo. But he never recreated the happiness he felt in Spain during the 14 years he spent there; six of them at the Sanchez-Pizjuan with Sevilla and eight with Barcelona.
