Dani Alves returns to Camp Nou

He's back. Dani Alves appeared at Camp Nou in a Barça shirt almost six years after his last game as a blaugrana in the stadium. The Brazilian had not graced the turf at the blaugranes' home ground since he played against Espanyol on 8 May 2016. His return came in a stirring win against Atlético Madrid with a performance that had a bit of everything. 

The game in 2016 was not, however, his most recent appearance at Camp Nou before the win over Atlético. In 2017 Dani Alves returned to the stadium in a Juventus shirt in the second leg of the Champions League quarter finals. The Brazilian was in the starting XI for the Italians that day in April and he helped la Vecchia Signora to a 0-0 draw against Barça which was enough to send them through after victory in the first leg in Turin. 

Goal, assist... and a red card

Alves' was as entertaining as you might have expected. The full back produced a great cross for Jordi Alba's spectacular early equaliser. Then, in the opening minutes of the second half the Brazilian made it 4-1 with his first goal for Barça since rejoining the club late last year. Alves completed 46 of 52 passes and created two goalscoring opportunities in attack. 

It was not all sweetness and light, however, as in the 70th minute the defender was sent off for a late challenge on Yannick Carrasco. 

1,000 games as a professional

Dani Alves also shared the news on his social networks that the win over Atlético was his 1,000th game as a professional, counting games from his time with Bahía, Sevilla, FC Barcelona, Juventus, PSG, São Paulo and the Brazilian national team. The Brazilian has made 396 appearances for Barça in that time, almost 40% of the total.