Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said he has no doubts picking Dani Alves for Saturday evening's tricky-looking La Liga trip to Sevilla, despite the Brazil right-back's new contract talks having broken down again.
Alves' current deal ends in June, and the latest round of negotiations with the club have ended without success, with his agent Dinorah Santana claiming that the uncertainty over his future was to blame for some on-pitch mistakes her client had made this season.
The Blaugrana coach told his pre-game news conference that all Barca's players were used to getting on with their jobs amid media controversies, and Alves was lucky that it was he -- not Dinorah -- who was picking the side each week.
"The Barca players are specialists in living amid rumours, stories and speculation," Luis Enrique said. "I have even fewer doubts about Dani Alves. The players know where we are, what we are playing for, how we have got here, and what we need to do. When a player makes a mistake I do not think of their situation, just that mistakes happen in football, in every game. If I thought like his agent he would not play another minute. He has the good fortune that I do not."
Barca have won 20 of their last 21 games in all competitions and now sit four points ahead of second placed Real Madrid atop the La Liga table. However some local pundits have still not been fully happy with last week's performances when the team lacked sparkle as they beating Celta Vigo 1-0 and Almeria 4-0, leading to a series of questions at the press conference about the team's lack of good football recently.
"I have always said that we have much more options to win playing good football," Luis Enrique said in response. "Sometimes we manage it, sometimes not, but we always set out to do that. And I have no doubt that, up until now, this has been a very good season for Barca. The objective is always to play as well as possible -- to be marvellous -- to make 58 chances and give up none.
"But that is utopia -- we are up against an opponent who has not been beaten at home in ages. Who have their own high level weapons. This game will be an example of the demands within our league."
Sevilla have also been in excellent form recently, winning each of their last seven games, and moving to within one point of fourth placed Valencia in a tight battle for Champions League qualifications. Unai Emery's team are also 23 games undefeated at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan since Barca won 4-1 there 14 months ago.
"Emery has been able to adapt to the players he has," Luis Enrique said. "They started the season playing more open, but have become more direct. This year he has moved [Vicente] Iborra to an attacking midfield role, and has other good forwards like [Carlos] Bacca and [Kevin] Gameiro. It will be difficult in the air against them, a tough game, everyone knows that, and we will need a very complete game to beat them."
While not revealing any likely team news, Luis Enrique confirmed that Jordi Alba was back fit after an adductor muscle problem, while Neymar is expected to return to the XI after being benched midweek.
The Asturian coach was less happy to go along with a reporter who asked if he agreed that the mid-season move to put Luis Suarez at centre-forward, and Lionel Messi on the right wing, had been decided by the players themselves.
"Yes -- they always decide the system, who plays where, who rotates, what the tactics will be, how we will press," he said. "They always decide that. I should add -- that's if they win, if they lose it is me who has made the decisions."