![]() His combination play with Messi in particular was one of the trademark features of what many consider the best club side of the modern era.Īlves, right, won 23 trophies with Barcelona (Shaun Botterill – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)Įven after leaving Barcelona in 2016, Alves remained a prominent figure. The Catalan’s possession-centric approach suited Alves perfectly and revealed fresh nuances in his game. It helped that his arrival at Barcelona coincided with that of Pep Guardiola. You would struggle to name another full-back who came anywhere near matching his influence and consistency over the same period. He won six Spanish league titles, three Champions Leagues and 14 other trophies during that time, rarely missing a match. His initial eight-season spell at the Camp Nou - he later made a short, largely forgettable return during the 2021-22 season - turned Alves into a superstar. A year later, he became a Barcelona player. He helped the Andalusians to their first European trophy in 2006, setting up the opening goal in the UEFA Cup final against Middlesborough, and was similarly influential as they retained that title in 2007. Alves was encouraged to get forward, to make use of his speed and skill in the final third. Sevilla quickly worked out that they had to harness that energy rather than curb it. He was a free spirit, a de facto winger in the mould of his boyhood idol, Cafu. Alves was technically a defender but defending was not his speciality. His interpretation of his position, though, made the doubters reconsider. He moved to Spain at 19, joining Sevilla - initially on loan and then on a permanent deal after winning the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship with Brazil’s under-20 side.Īt the start, some questioned whether Alves had the physical strength to compete in La Liga. He was also ordered to pay the victim €150,000 (£128,500 $162,700) in compensation, plus legal costs.Īlves began his senior career at Bahia, one of the biggest clubs in Brazil’s north east. After his prison sentence he will be on supervised probation for five additional years. “The court has no doubt that the vaginal penetration of the complainant took place using violence,” read a statement released by the court after this morning’s hearing.Īlves has spent the last 13 months in a detention facility some 25km northwest of Barcelona requests for provisional release were denied because he was considered a flight risk and there is no extradition arrangement between Brazil and Spain. Those accusations have now been upheld by Catalonia’s High Court of Justice. Exactly six weeks later, he was arrested by Catalan police, accused of raping a 23-year-old woman in a private bathroom at a Barcelona nightclub on December 30, 2022. On December 9, 2022, Alves - 39 at the time - was on the bench as Brazil played Croatia at the World Cup in Qatar. Despite its voyeuristic undertones, that epithet did capture just how spectacular Alves’ fall from grace has been. ![]() It goes some way to explaining why his hearing, which took place over three days in a Barcelona courtroom earlier this month, was labelled “the trial of the year” in certain sections of the Spanish press. That success, coupled with a relentlessly upbeat public persona, made Alves a hugely - almost universally - popular figure.
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