Alves: "They can give the Ballon d'Or to whoever they want"

"The fact that Leo scores goals, plays well and is a genius doesn't sell anymore. Now the news that sells is different; it's Messi and Villa. It's a lost war", said Dani Alves, who believes that certain members of the press are trying to discredit Messi just a few weeks before the Ballon d'Or is awarded, in favour of the Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo.
In any event, the Barça full back is convinced that the effort to tarnish Messi's image is in vain: "We know where all this is coming from. They were talking about Cristiano behaving badly and now they want to put the boot on the other foot. The Ballon d'Or is getting boring. They can give it to whoever they want, but it's already decided. While Messi's around, there's no point in debating it".
According to Alves, FIFA should give awards to players based on their positions, "and then players like Xavi (Hernández) and Andrés (Iniesta) would win. It's sad that such amazing players don't have a Ballon d'Or".
"Our style of play is what the world of football has fallen in love with. Barça and football have come together and they are one and the same. When we don't win, there's no need to turn to plan B. We already had a tall guy (Ibrahimovic) who's not here anymore, but it didn't work. We need to improve plan A, not have a plan B, because that's our philosophy. If it worked before, there's no need to change it", stated Dani Alves with respect to the defeat at Celtic Park.