Barcelona defender Dani Alves has recovered from a thigh strain which kept him out of the side which destroyed Atletico Madrid 6-1 at the weekend and is included in the Brazil squad which will face Venezuela and Colombia in World Cup qualification matches.

Alves has been a regular at right-back this season since the departure of Zambrotta to Juventus although he is yet to reach the level which he produced at Sevilla which attracted the interest of the top teams in the world. Defensively he has been caught out and in attack he still needs to grow in confidence as he has been guilty of giving the ball away cheaply.

The downside from the victory over Atletico was the poor image which Samuel Eto'o gave when he was substituted, reacting angrily to the decision by Guardiola. After the game the coach said that Eto'o was not happy about being taken off but it was Guardiola's decision and Eto'o has to live with it. This is another example of the disruptive influence that Eto'o has had at Barcelona as although he is an amazing striker he has regularly caused problems with players and coaches especially with Ronaldinho and Rijkaard.