Alves abuse sickens Espanyol boss

ESPANYOL coach Mauricio Pochettino has condemned the racist abuse aimed at Barcelona defender Dani Alves during the Catalan derby and said it needs to be “eradicated” from football.

Sections of fans targeted the Brazil international with monkey noises during the 1-1 Primera Division draw at Espanyol’s Cornella-El Prat stadium.

Pochettino said after the game in El Mundo Deportivo: “We condemn it, we want to get away from these situations. We want to eradicate these things and I’m right behind that.”

Alves insisted he had not heard the racist chants, saying: “I didn’t hear anything because I’m only thinking about the field of play.”

The result leaves Barca five points off leaders Real Madrid and midfielder Sergio Busquets felt it was two points dropped rather than one gained.

Busquets said: “There’s a long way to go in the season. It’s obvious that it’s better to be ahead than behind, but let’s see if we can cut the difference. We have to continue working hard. More than taking a point, we’ve let two slip.”