Dani Alves: "Neymar isn’t a pop star"

Speaking after Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Espanyol, defender Dani Alves acknowledged that he has already spoken to new ‘Azulgrana’ recruit Neymar following the news of his signing for the La Liga champions – and defended his countryman’s image. “Neymar isn’t a pop star. He’s competitive, he knows the demands of this club and he has come to play his part. He’s very humble. He’s a star, but he’s very hard-working. We’ll all help him and he’ll help us. I respect [Johan] Cruyff but he doesn’t know Neymar. There won’t be two captains of this ship.”

Discussing Barça’s La Liga victory over their city rivals, Alves noted that the win leaves his side with a clear motivation for their final fixture against Málaga: “We are really up for equalling the 100-point record. There’s one game left, and we want to win it.”