25. Dani Alves

He was tired of Barcelona and took a jet to Turin to sign on a free transfer with Juventus. A decision nor The Old Lady nor Dani Alves will ever regret.

Playing for an Italian club is never easy, especially during an inaugural season. No football place in the world focuses more on tactics and defence, especially when talking about Juventus. So not surprisingly, Barcelona legend Dani Alves didn’t enjoy a hugely successful start to his Serie A campaign.

Alves was criticized for his lack of defensive focus, so coach Massimiliano Allegri told him what Juventus are all about. “I explained to Alves that at Barca you win games 5-0/6-0, here it’s 1-0/2-1. He’s an intelligent player and he quickly understood”.

From that point on, Alves got better and better. To be fair, the Brazilian didn’t always play. He was brought to Turin mainly for the Champions League and that’s where Alves mostly showed his value. He played in all but one game, due to an injury, and provided three goals and four assists during Juve’s strong tournament.

His semi-final performance against Monaco will forever remain in Juventus fans’ minds. Alves found Gonzalo Higuain on a sizzling counter with a genius backheel, resulting in the Bianconeri first away goal against the Ligue 1 champions. Then his perfect cross found Higuain again, making it 2-0 for Juventus. During the return in Turin, it was Alves who doubled The Old Lady’s lead with a stunning outside shot. Final place booked.

In the end, Alves proved to be one of Beppa Marotta’s best signings since he took over as Juve’s sporting director. The Brazilian came on a free transfer to Turin, when many were thinking his best years were behind him. He’s not the freight train on the right he once was, but Alves is still pure gold in terms of crossing, offence/defence combination, and mentality.

All in all, it was a fine season for Alves, who proved to be a crucial contributor when it mattered most for Juventus.