FC Barcelona after their 4-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has recorded 2-1 wins in their last outings. This has put coach Luis Enrique under intense pressure because the fans and pundits of the game always hold a proposition that a one-goal margin is not safe enough and might see the team lose two points within games if opposing teams achieve draws.
Fc Barcelona has been a team known for its fluid football and the creation of numerous goal scoring opportunities. The likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, and Andres Iniesta emboldened this philosophy, and the three were made the poster of the team.
There is another player who outshined two of these three regarding assist, but his position made him unrecognizable but his contributions saw the team come back from matches and win by huge margins, and that player is Daniel Alves.
Lionel Messi has blended the responsibility of creating chances and scoring goals. Xavi Hernández left the team on a high after a treble-winning season in 2015. Daniel Alves after much speculation left the club for Juventus after eight seasons. Andres Iniesta at 32 is not the Iniesta of old; he has lost pace and cannot lay out the incisive passes he was once decorated with. This has left FC Barcelona with the unfortunate task of reverting and relying on Lionel Messi for the assists and goals.
On the positive side, Luis Suarez has done well being the main focal point of attack, but Neymar JR has flawed in 2017 and would need to make the team his own if he is to challenge the status quo for the Ballon D’or.
FC Barcelona misses Daniel Alves but won’t admit
Daniel Alves has been in the FIFPRO XI six times only bettered by Sergio Ramos’s seven-time appearance.
On the all-time La Liga assists standings with him being a lateral defender sits second to Lionel Messi haven’t surpassed La Liga greats such as Luis Figo and assisting over 100 goals.
In the 2015/16 Champions League against Arsenal FC and Atletico Madrid, Daniel Alves’s crosses contributed goals that defeated both teams at Camp Nou and gave the team additional options heading into the final third.
FC Barcelona needs another assist king
It seems Coach Luis Enrique has lost faith in Ivan Rakitic having played Rafinha alongside Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets Burgos. It paid off as Atletico Madrid is relatively creative and edgier than other teams but only time would tell if the replacement would work heading into the decisive side of the season.
The team needs another Daniel Alves, a player whose eight out of ten crosses results in goals. The player has asserted that he was not treated well at the end of his spell with the club. A team like FC Barcelona would need to take care of such talents if other players with the same skill and dedication ever cross their path because players of Daniel Alves quality come one in a million and are invaluable to a team’s success.
