The second leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Barcelona and Juventus brings Dani Alves back to Camp Nou, and the Brazilian right back expects a tough game, despite their big lead.
However, he believes that Juventus has a 60% chance of beating his former side Barcelona, and if they do, they will be eliminating “the best team in the world” from the Champions League.
“If we overcome Barca, and I hope we do, then I think we’ll be eliminating the best team in the world,” Alves said at a news conference on Tuesday ahead of the tie.
The Brazilian moved from the Barcelona to Turin last year, and was instrumental in keeping former team mate Neymar in control in the quarter-final first leg on April 11, which Juventus won 3-0 at home.
In the return leg on Wednesday night, Alves said that Juventus should expect a long night at the Camp Nou and that his team will strive for a crucial away goal.
“I think we’ve got a 60-40 chance of qualification, to show due respect, but we know that all games are long at the Nou Camp and it will be tough,” he said.
“We want to score goals, not just think about defending. We intend to hurt Barca and a goal would make a big difference in this tie and be a blow for them.”
Alves was with Barcelona for eight seasons after signing from Sevilla in 2008. The right back was a big part of Barcelona’s success, winning six league titles and three Champions Leagues with the Spanish team. However, he has maintained that he was not happy in his final two years at the Catalan club, saying that the board did not rate him highly enough.
The Brazilian said that he is open to returning to Barcelona in the future but only “when things change”. “It was wonderful here, but I think (if I) came back to Barca many things would need to change, including people’s egos, to recognise the mistakes that were made,” Alves added.
