Barcelona strips Dani Alves of legendary player status

FC Barcelona has removed Dani Alves from its designation as a legendary player in the club’s lore. The Brazilian defender, who played for the Catalan club for nine seasons in two stints, won 23 team trophies with Barcelona during his time in Spain. Yet, the Brazilian was found guilty of rape. Authorities sentenced Alves to four-and-a-half years in prison and a $150,000 fine paid to the victim.

Barcelona, looking to distance itself from the controversy surrounding Alves, removed the player from an exclusive list of iconic talents to perform well with the red and blue stripes. For reference, 102 players have legendary status with the Blaugrana. The most recent players to earn the designation are Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique. Dani Alves shared the field with this side that won the lot in Spain and Europe.

During the trial, Barcelona maintained that its former star was innocent. Now that a Spanish jury found Alves guilty of sexual assault, Barcelona can remove him from that list of players to honor the club. This is despite the fact Alves made over 400 appearances with the Blaugrana. As stated, he won well over 20 trophies with Barcelona. For a time, Alves emerged as the player with the most trophies in the world. Only Lionel Messi, who shared many of those trophies with Dani Alves, usurped the Brazilian for that title.

Now, Alves tarnished his reputation as one of the best players of his era due to acts away from the field. Being on the legendary players list does not mean anything outside of honor and recognition for a strong career with Barcelona. Yet, that is an honor he would have shared with 10 former teammates.

Recapping Dani Alves and a ‘legendary’ career with Barcelona

The Brazilian originally joined Barcelona after six seasons with Sevilla. There, he won the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de España. That would only provide a taste of the on-field success Alves would have. Playing alongside Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Lionel Messi and a litany of other stars may have made it easier to win trophies. Still, Alves played a pivotal role. His success in 2014/15, when Barcelona won the treble, earned him a spot in the World XI as published by France Football.

After his lengthy tenure with Barcelona, Alves bounced around several other clubs. That included a season in Italy with Juventus before joining PSG in the same year Neymar joined the French club. He returned to Brazil before rejoining Barcelona for half of a season. His career ended in Mexico with Pumas.

Sexual assault case ruins status of Alves

The sexual assault case that has led to so many issues happened on New Year’s Eve in 2022. Part of Alves’ defense was that he was intoxicated during the event, which is something the jury and judge did not consider as a viable reason for defense. Alves’ lawyer will appeal the verdict that will keep the defender in prison for the next four years with an additional five years of probation.

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