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Monday was for Dani Alves to finalize a move to Juventus that everybody knew he was going to make. Come 24 hours later on Tuesday, it was Alves' time to meet the Italian press for the first time as a Juventus player rather than as one who was just rolling through the country as a visitor in the Champions League.
It was impossible for Alves to not be asked about his experience in Europe's premier club competition simply because of what he achieved during his near-decade with Barcelona. You have that kind of success, and yeah, people are going to want to ask you about it when they have the chance. Throw in the fact that Juventus manager Max Allegri and some of his current players like Paulo Dybala have spoken about their desire to do big things in the Champions League come the 2016-17 season, it's no wonder that they have acquired a player of Alves' ilk when it comes to the big European stage.
.@DaniAlvesD2: "The club's dream is to win the @ChampionsLeague and I hope to help them achieve this." #BemVindoDani
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) June 28, 2016
Sure, say what you want about guys always talking positive at their introductory press conferences, but Alves has the clout to back his talk of lofty goals and big-time ambitions. That's something that the Juventus press office didn't forget to mention in their post announcing Alves' signing.
Three UCL crowns, two UEFA Cups, five Copa del Rey trophies, five Spanish Super Cups, four UEFA Super Cups, three FIFA Club World Cups, six La Liga titles: such has been the course of Alves' career so far, who would bet against adding to that astonishing tally in the coming two years?
Well, as an answer to that question, I sure hope so — and I think you guys do, too.
After such a long time with Barcelona, there's understandably going to be an adjustment period. That's not just in terms of the style of play in Italy, but also what his manager, Allegri, wants him to do within the squad. But seeing as how Alves talked about what his desires are both personally and how he wants to try and achieve his goals, this isn't a move where the 33-year-old Brazilian is simply looking to cash in with a new team in a new league and then call it a day. Maybe we can look at it a lot like Juve's move for Patrice Evra a couple of summers ago — a veteran with a massive amount of Champions League experience is added to a roster that has goals beyond just winning another Scudetto.
Seeing as our only exposure to Alves has been on the field with Barcelona, it was an interesting 25-minute press conference for the simple fact that we got to hear the guy talk. It wasn't all Champions League talk — although that did dominate the discuss — when he was in front of the microphone on Tuesday. He did get asked about his taste in music, which was pretty funny to see him react to. (He got to talk about his dance moves, too, which we'll likely see whenever he does score his first goal with Juventus.)
And, of course, just like every introductory press conference last summer that we had the pleasure of watching from near or far, there's the discussion of what squad number he will wear. It's one we've seen on a South American standout somewhat recently, too.
Alves didn't lack for reasoning behind picking the number we will see him wear when he makes his Juventus debut two months from now in August.
.@DaniAlvesD2: "My number? I will wear 23 in honour of @KingJames." #BemVindoDani
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) June 28, 2016
My inner Golden State Warriors fandom grumbles at this bit of information, Dani. (But if you do well, I think I'll be able to forgive you eventually.)