FCBARCELONA.CAT

20.04.2009 14:27

Alves: “We aren’t looking any further than Seville”

Jordi Clos

Dani Alves believes Barça has to take each game as it comes. He thinks Barça are ready for their upcoming games against their nearest rivals and that the team can still improve its game.

Playing against Seville is always special for Dani Alves, and especially this time round when the match could have a big impact on the race for the title. “We just think about the next game which is now against Seville. We aren’t looking any further than that and we know that we’re getting closer to achieving our goals,” he said. “We aren’t looking at the Bernabéu game yet, even though it’s very important, knowing what happened last year. We just think about the next match.”

Quality opponents

The Brazilian knows the side managed by Manolo Jiménez better than anyone. “It’s a quality team no matter who plays,” he argued. “They’ve been a bit off at home but they’ve had a run of away wins and are doing really well. We shouldn’t put too much faith in their defeat at Valencia.”

“The toughest and best is still to come”

The Seville match on Wednesday is Barça’s first of a series against their close rivals, plus they also have to play their Champions League semi-final. “The toughest and best is still to come,” says Alves. “We’re ready for what’s coming and we hope the effort is worthwhile. I’d like to win the League because I haven’t before.” The key to Barça’s performance he believes is that the players really want to win some silverware this season.

Room for improvement

Barça’s first half at Getafe has been widely praised, but Dani Alves wants the team to do still more. “We have to believe we can get better to win things,” he argued. “People said we couldn’t play better than against Lyon and then we did it against Bayern. And it was even better in Getafe.”

Let refs do their jobs

Alves was asked about the referee at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez clash. “One of our rules is never to discuss the ref,” he said. “We believe they do their best and sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don’t. We just have to let them get on with their jobs. Only losers blame the ref for losing and we aren’t like that.”