No need for a plan B, says Alves

Barcelona full-back Dani Alves insists the La Liga giants do not need to take a different approach against defensive sides like Celtic.

The Catalans suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat to the Scots in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday, which was followed by scrutiny regarding their style of play.

But the right-back believes there is no need to devise a ‘plan B’ despite the problems caused by the likes of Celtic.

“Whenever we fail to win, the debate starts about whether we need a plan B, but that makes no sense here, because we have our philosophy and our way of playing the game,” Alves said.

“The solution is making sure plan A works better.”

Barcelona, who face Mallorca in the league on Sunday, are three points clear at the top without a loss in their 10 matches.

But they have been unable to keep a clean sheet in their past two matches and Alves said it was an area of focus.

“Teams weren’t scoring against us before – it was us who were scoring,” he said.

“But despite the goals we’ve conceded, we are taking the points. Of course we want to win and keep clean sheets – it hurts to let one in.”