Barcelona, for the first time in quite a while, have an abundance of options at left-back. For a decade, Jordi Alba has been an undisputed starter, but now the signing of Marcos Alonso and the eruption of youngster Alejandro Balde has given him plenty of competition. A competition that so far, he is losing.
Alba has made just two starts out of Barcelona’s eight games. In Barcelona’s most crucial game so far, Bayern Munich, it was Marcos Alonso who began the match in Bavaria.
According to Sport, Alba has been taken aback by his lack of protagonism. In particular as physically, Alba is setting personal bests across several metrics, including top speed. However he is facing the challenge head on and determined to fight tooth and nail for his place under Xavi Hernandez.
He is hurt by the attitude of many towards him though. Alba was one of the players who agreed to defer his salary in order to help the club through their financial difficulties, an act he feels has been forgotten.
While none of these come directly from Alba’s mouth, it certainly reads like inside information from Alba. It appears that the left-back is keen to communicate that he will compete for his place and not cause issues for his manager and former teammate Xavi.
