“I was called an actor but what amazed me the most is that people simply forgot the fact that Pepe came all studs up against me,” Alves said. “I know and he knows how hard he hit me. The only reason I don’t have a scar or something worse to show is because I wear carbon fibre shinpads to prevent injuries. If you listen to the audio in the Spanish TV, you can hear the impact of his studs. Maybe if I had broken my leg people would stop talking.”
For him what made the difference in those games was that one team, Barca, played football, while the other team, Madrid, was into mind games. “Real have great players but they were more worried about referees and even at their own matches they kept talking about Barcelona,” he said.
Dani Alves will play his first* Champions League final next Saturday against Manchester United. A team he believes to be in a great form this season and who has great chances to still Barcelona’s fame. “They will not pay us excessive respect, like Real did,” Alves said.
*he missed the 2009 final in Rome because of a yellow card in the Semi-Final against Chelsea.
