Barcelona was going through a fateful season, away from the top positions in LaLiga, eliminated in the Champions League in the group stage, and risking qualifying to play the top continental competition the following year. Laporta chose Xavi to give a change of direction and the coach wanted to recover the pride and spirit of the champion team that elevated him as a footballer. One of the big bets was accepting the return of Dani Alves, who at 38 was looking for a team that would allow him to get ready to play the World Cup in Qatar. He agreed to collect the minimum salary allowed by LaLiga and became the owner of the right wing again, like six years ago, when he decided to leave the club due to serious disagreements with president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Xavi did not hesitate despite the footballer’s age. At 38 years old, he continued to improve the team and brought the winning character to a sunken and depressed team. Laughter returned to the locker room, guarding the arrival of the young squad players by transmitting the weight of the Barça shirt, it became the crutch on which Ansu Fati leaned psychologically after his new injury and made the fans believe that the miracle was possible. The 42 titles that appear in his track record endorse him (he is the player who has won the most). He was unable to lift another trophy. His first stage was much more prolific. Alves arrived at the Camp Nou from Sevilla in the 2008-09 season. The previous six years in Nervión allowed him to speak fluent Spanish with a strong Andalusian accent, which, together with his joking character, generated a rapid acceptance among the Barça social mass. For eight seasons he was part of the best Barça in history, with Pep Guardiola on the bench and Joan Laporta in the box.
After leaving Barcelona, he played for Juventus, PSG and Sao Paulo before spending his second spell at the Catalan club. Six months that the footballer intended to extend. Now he will have to look for equipment and put on work overalls to be in Qatar. There are several Brazilian teams that want to sign him, but the veteran soccer player knows that his chances of playing in his last World Cup are few. The renewal of Sergi Roberto (injured almost all of last season), the decision not to transfer Sergiño Dest and the possible arrival of Azpilicueta leave him without a place in the squad. And Xavi doesn’t want to waste his talent on the bench. He already hurt the coach not being able to register him in the Europa League. «I always understood that life is phases and I know what phase I am in now, closer to the end than the beginning. If he does this to me when I’m 25 years old, we might get into a fistfight…”, then joked the Brazilian, who added: “Now we’re here to help Barça and I know that it has hurt him to have to make the decision to leave me out ».
Barcelona loses joy with the departure of Alves, a footballer who always expresses himself through jokes and who perfectly reflects the Brazilian lifestyle, of enjoying life one hundred percent. Protagonist in training sessions and on Barcelona trips, it was common to see him sing on the go, dance at concentration camps and give ingenious answers at press conferences. He even launched a strong message against racism with an unexpected gesture. It was in 2014, against Villarreal, when a banana was thrown at him from the stands and he reacted by eating it in the middle of the game.
His philosophy of life is even reflected in the farewell letter he has written to the Barça supporter, totally identified with him, asking that they not miss his joy in the dressing room and that those who stay can change the dynamics of the entity. «I would like to thank all the staff for the opportunity they gave me to return to this club and to be able to wear that wonderful shirt again, you don’t know how happy I am…. I hope they don’t miss my crazy things or my daily happiness . I also hope that those who do stay change the history of that beautiful club, I wish it from my heart », he comments. He also remembers the eight years that he has been in the Catalan club: «Now the time has come for our farewell. Like everything in life, the years go by, paths diverge and stories are written in different places », he adds after recalling that he won 23 titles, with two triples and a sextet, with the Barça shirt.
Alves has also recalled his departure from Barcelona in his first stage and his subsequent return in January. “Many more years passed until football and life, which, as always, are very grateful to those who respect them, decided to give me the opportunity to come back here to say goodbye.” And he has wanted to close his letter with a forceful message: «I close a very nice cycle and another more challenging one opens. May the world never forget: a lion, even if he is 39 years old, is still a ‘good crazy leonnnn’. Forever, ‘visca’ Barça!».
