Dani Alves is getting his mojo back

Barca’s Brazilian star Dani Alves has reacted in time and has done so in the most critical stage of the season. After a very disappointing start to the year, which was a far cry from his usual level, he seems to have stepped up to the mark and found his old self, which the fans have been accustomed to. The Brazilian, who was put on the transfer market last summer, has left no one indifferent.

Alves, who usually plays almost every game of the season, has been hit by several injuries that have served his detractors to speculate about his personal life. Dani Alves has always stood out because of his physical condition and his work rate in both attack and defense. He used to say that his way of relaxing was by playing every minute possible because he needed to compete to be in top condition.

And this year hasn’t been a bed of roses for Alves. It was even speculated that Guardiola asked for Alves to leave in order to continue for another season – something that the club’s board denies. The Brazilian also lost his status as a regular first team player and both Adriano and Montoya have taken his position on several occasions.

But it seems that Alves has reacted in time and much of the credit seems to lie with Xavi Hernandez, who has not hesitated in telling him that the club needed him at his very best. The midfielder had a meeting with him and asked him to focus on the team and make an extra effort and it seems that Dani Alves got the message.

The example of Alves’ improvement could be seen last week in Paris against PSG where he was one of Barcelona’s outstanding players. A good example was the beautiful pass to Messi that setup the Catalan side’s first goal.

Dani Alves also has tried to polish up his act, which can only be a good thing. This season he’s only been shown one yellow card when he usually averages around 11 per year. He’s been shown 109 cards over the last 10 seasons with both Barca and Seville.