“I hope that one day we can play together again” – Dani Alves yet to give up on Lionel Messi reunion at Barcelona

Barcelona defender Dani Alves has expressed his desire to play with his former teammate Lionel Messi again and wishes the Argentine returns to Camp Nou. Alves and Messi spent a long time together at the Catalan club and won numerous trophies together in the golden age of Barcelona under Pep Guardiola.

Messi made the momentous decision to leave his parent club and join French league giants Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Dani Alves spent eight years at Barcelona before joining Juventus in 2016. He then also spent time at Paris Saint-Germain and Sau Paulo. The 38-year-old defender returned to his former club last month where he wishes to see Lionel Messi playing alongside him.

Dani Alves spoke to Alkass Sports Channel about his return to Barcelona. He also spoke at length about the eventful exit of Lionel Messi from the club he has played for since he started playing as a kid. The Brazilian revealed that the exit of Lionel Messi from Barcelona was difficult.

He said:

"I hope Messi returns to Barça and we will play together again. Messi's departure was difficult, the club had problems and it was difficult to retain him. He was against his departure because he is a living legend of Barça. Unfortunately, things did not turn out the way we wanted, but I hope that one day he will come back and we can play together again."

Lionel Messi did not hold himself back during his final interaction with fans and the Barcelona board. He recalled his time with Dani Alves and the mutual admiration they had for each other. Messi said that he is close to the Brazilian international and he congratulated him for the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Messi added:

“ I want to continue competing, fighting for titles and adding titles to my career. By the way, I congratulate Dani Alves who won the Olympic medal (in the final in Tokyo where Brazil defeated Spain 2-1) , but I am very close to him and I am going to fight to reach him. And pass it if possible."

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Barcelona struggle to stay in top-four of La Liga since Lionel Messi's exit from the club

Barcelona are currently struggling to join the top four teams in the ongoing season of La Liga. They have seen a major dip in form since the departure of club legend Lionel Messi last summer.

The Catalan club sacked manager Ronald Koeman in October. They then brought former player Xavi Hernandez from Qatar's Al-Sadd to manage the club and restructure it for the years to come.

In the ongoing season of the top tier of the Spanish league, Barcelona find themselves in seventh spot. They are 18 points off arch rivals Real Madrid, who continue to be on top. They are one point away from fourth spot, currently occupied by Atletico Madrid.

The situation went from bad to worse after the club were relegated from the Champions League as well.