An insight into the length of ban likely facing Barcelona defender Dani Alves on the back of his sending off versus Atletico Madrid has been provided on Monday evening.

Alves was of course part of the Blaugrana starting XI which welcomed Diego Simeone’s La Liga champions to the Camp Nou 24 hours ago.

And the Brazilian certainly enjoyed a night to remember, teeing up Jordi Alba’s stunning opener, before getting in on the act himself with a fine finish early in the 2nd-half:

Alves’ dream Camp Nou return, however, soon took a turn for the worse.

This came as the 38-year-old lost his head twenty minutes from time, sent for an early bath by referee Jesus Gil on the back of a frankly ridiculous challenge on Atletico’s Yannick Carrasco:

Alves, in turn, now faces a ban, amid a crucial stretch in the La Liga campaign.

And, as alluded to above, on Monday evening, an insight into the predicted length of this suspension has been provided.

The info comes courtesy of Tot Costa of the reliable Cat Radio, who, citing inside information, point towards Alves likely facing up to a two-game absence.

Such a sanction would see the Brazilian international forced to sit out both next weekend’s derby showdown with Espanyol, and ensuing trip to the Mestalla to take on Valencia.

Gavi amongst the goals

Thankfully for Xavi Hernandez’s side, Alves’ moment of madness on Sunday, ultimately, didn’t prove costly.

Instead, the evening’s hosts managed to hold out, eventually emerging on the right side of a 6-goal thriller to leapfrog Atletico Madrid into La Liga’s top-4.

Jordi Alba, Gavi, Ronald Araujo and Alves himself all managed to find the target over the course of a pulsating 90 minutes, to guide Barca to an impressive 4-2 triumph.

 

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