FCBARCELONA.CAT

21.11.2009 23:59

Alves: "We hope that things will improve"

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Daniel Alves reflected the mood in the Barça camp after the draw against Athletic Club on Saturday evening when he told the media "we hope that things will improve" after week when the club have been struck by injury and flu.

The Brazilian opened the scoring for the Blaugrana in San Mamés before Gaizka Toquero levelled and after the game looked ahead to a testing week. "We hope that it will be a good one," he explained. Even Real Madrid taking over the leadership of la Primera was met with a philosophical "these things can happen" from the full-back.

On Lionel Messi's injury, Alves was clearly concerned. "It is bad news because he is an important player for us but we need to know the extent of the problem," he added.

Defensive display

Alves netted his second goal of the league season, having already scored a free-kick against Atlético de Madrid in Camp Nou, and sought to explain why it was so difficult or Barça to find a winner. "As well as being a hard place to play, Athletic marked us tightly in a strong defensive display."

Valdés: "The league is long"

Goalkeeper Víctor Valdés was not happy to have seen two points slip out of Barça's grasp which allowed Real Madrid to take over at the top. "The league is long but we cannot drop too many points along the way," he explained. "It is a shame that Madrid will come to Camp Nou as leaders.