09.01.2012

Barcelona’s Dani Alves abused during Catalan derby

Barcelona and Espanyol have condemoned the racist abuse aimed at Brazilian full-back Dani Alves in last night's Catalan derby.

Alves was subjected to monkey chants by sections of the Espanyol crowd during the 1-1 draw in their La Liga clash at Cornella.

The 28-year-old, who said racism was unstoppable in Spain in an interview last year, was unaware of any chants directed towards him during the game, saying he was concentrating on the game.

Barcelona president Sandro Rossel said: "It's clear we are not happy with this, not happy at all."

His Espanyol counterpart Ramon Condal said "I didn't like it but the public's behavior was a 10, both Espanyol's and Barcelona's. If we can do something about those chants, we will."

After the match, Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino, angered by the abuse directed towards Alves, called for racism to be eradicated from the game altogether.

"We condemn it, we want to get away from these situations," he told reporters in his post-match press conference. "We want to eradicate these things and I'm right behind that."

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