Dani Alves thought Manchester United were the only team in Manchester

Daniel Alves shoots wide during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg match between Manchester City and Barcelona at the Etihad Stadium on February 18, 2014 in Manchester, England.

Manchester City’s hopes of going to the next round were extinguished after Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Dani Alves gave their team a 2-0 first leg away-lead last night at the Etihad Stadium.

Following the match in a surprising turn of events, Dani Alves told media that he hadn’t even heard of Manchester City until a few years ago, and thought that United were the only team in Manchester.

“I didn’t realise until about five years ago that Manchester had two teams. Of course Manchester United have been one of the most famous and successful clubs in Europe for many years – but I thought they were the only one,” said Alves.

“‘When Manchester City got new owners and started buying some of the best players in Europe everybody knew who they were – but until then I must be honest I didn’t know about them.”

“I think this is the reality of modern football. You don’t need ten or 20 years to establish yourself – if you have rich owners you can do it in two or three years. It doesn’t matter if I or anybody else agree with it – it is just the reality of today,” he continued.

Dani Alves, however, acknowledged the fact that Manchester City are not a team to take lightly.

“We have to give Manchester City total respect because they have so many great players. They have shown as an attacking force they are very strong – and their midfield and forward players have been scoring a lot of goals.”

“We need to make sure that doesn’t happen on Tuesday – and we have a very experienced defence capable of stopping them.”

“We know at home they are very strong – but nobody in Barcelona is thinking of a draw – that would compromise everything that we stand for. We must acknowledge they are a very strong team – but our objective will be what it always is and that is to win,” he concluded.

Dani Alves scored Barcelona’s second goal from a right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right to the bottom left corner after a brilliant run.