Dani Alves reveals he made sure that Messi has the ball all the time during games because that’s what he liked the most.
The Brazilian finds it weird that he and Leo established such a good connection on the pitch in practically no time.
Dani says that playing together with Barca’s captain was like setting off fireworks.
“I had a pretty good team-mate there, a good team-mate who still looks promising,” Dani Alves told Sky Sports of Leo Messi back in 2018.

“I did all I could to serve him, to make sure he was happy and to make sure he had the ball all the time, which is what he loves most. It’s like a child when you give him his first present. You give him a football and he plays with it all day. I was in charge of making sure the ball was always at his feet.
“It was very strange because from the time I arrived at Barcelona, from the first day, we had this very, very, very, very weird connection – I mean that in a positive way. I remember the first game we played together as if it was today. We were doing one-twos all the time, we understood each other with no more than a little look. We knew exactly where the other one was.

“It was surprising for me because I came from Sevilla, from a totally different style of football to Barcelona. In that moment, that connection with Leo, it was like setting off fireworks. I said to myself, ‘Wow, I’m going to play here for a club which defends what the word football really means’.”

Alves stayed at Barca between 2008 and 2016. In total, Messi and Dani played 349 matches together and took part in 48 goals. The right-back assisted Leo on 43 occasions, while the Argentine provided five assists in return.