Barcelona Can Reverse Bilbao Defeat - Dani Alves

Barcelona defender Dani Alves is confident the Catalans can come back to beat  Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa de Espana after they were thrashed 4-0 by the Basques in the first leg on Friday.

The Champions League winners conceded the opener from Mikel San Jose's spectacular 45-yard effort after Marc Andre ter Stegen's mistake, with Aritz Aduriz componding their misery when he stroked home Athletic's fourth from the spot after the referee awarded a penalty against Alves.

The defeat comes just days after they scraped to victory in the Uefa Super Cup, beating Sevilla 5-4 thanks to a late goal from Pedro.


Alves insists Luis Enrique's men must respond by giving a top account of themselves in front of their own fans during the return leg of the Supercopa, in order to have any hope of winning the trophy.

“We'll try to come back, we'll be buzzing at home," the 32-year-old, who renewed his contract with the Blaugrana in June, told reporters. "Ninety minutes at Camp Nou is enough time for us.

"We must not look for excuses such as fatigue, a long pre-season, travelling or anything like that. No, we must improve everything. We'll try to overcome the deficit and give the best version of ourselves.

"It's not normal to concede eight goals in two games, we need to balance ourselves out, we can't do what we did in these games. We have to keep making steps forward if we want to keep winning."

Regarding the penalty he gave away, Alves said: “It is what it is. The referee sets the rules."

The treble winners' are targeting a sextuple in 2015 after winning everything last term, but failure to defeat Athletic on Monday will see the possibility disappear.