Barca’s Alves deliberately gets himself booked

Madrid: Barcelona defender Daniel Alves deliberately provoked the referee into showing him a yellow card on Saturday so he would be suspended for next Saturday’s match and not the “Clasico” against Real Madrid the week after.

“The idea was to provoke the card,” the Brazilian told reporters after he was cautioned for wasting time in the 92nd minute of Barca’s 1-0 win at Real Mallorca. “We have to be intelligent and in this way I’ll miss the next match and be free for the Madrid game,” he added.Barca play Athletic Bilbao at home next Saturday and Real at the Bernabeu the following week. Bureau Report