Alves following Real Sociedad victory: “Madrid are lucky we got in form late”

Barcelona climbed back to the second spot in the La Liga table after securing a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad at the Reale Arena.

Coming into the game on the back of consecutive defeats against Eintracht Frankfurt and Cadiz, the Catalan giants returned to winning ways courtesy of a first-half strike from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Barça endured a difficult game with the hosts pushing for an equaliser while Xavi Hernandez also had to deal with injuries to some defenders over the course of the contest. But the team held on to seal a vital, hard-fought victory against the Basque outfit.

And, speaking after the game, Barcelona defender Dani Alves touched upon the performance of the team, saying:

“In the first half we had control, we did well to pressure them, but then we lowered the intensity and they started pressing us. You have to know how to suffer. In football it’s hard to win… But we won.”

“We had approached the game this way, going out to press, because they made a diamond in the middle to have superiority and I had to help balance the team. The goal arrived and helped calm the game.”

Alves was among the players who was taken off with an injury in the second half. Talking about the physical state of the Barcelona stars, the veteran defender said: “Physically we are very good, but we’re nearing the end of the season and it costs all of us.”

Speaking of his own fitness problems, the Brazilian added: “The last few days I haven’t been able to train with the team as I would have liked. I had a problem against Levante, but we have to make an effort because we need to achieve our goal.”

Despite the win, Barça are still 15 points behind league leaders Real Madrid and with just six games left, the title race seems to be all but over.

Addressing the same, Alves said: “They [Real Madrid] are lucky that we woke up so late.. it couldn’t be. Now we have to think about another objective.”

Barcelona will take on Rayo Vallecano next on Sunday at Camp Nou and will be hoping to end their two-game losing streak at home.

Source: BarçaTV+