Dani Alves: 'Madrid more dangerous without Ronaldo'

Cristiano Ronaldo's close-season switch from Real Madrid to Juventus has led to an improvement for the European champions, says Dani Alves.

Dani Alves feels that contrary to popular belief, Real Madrid without Ronaldo is more dangerous.

Dani Alves believes Real Madrid is a more dangerous side after selling Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner and Madrid's all-time record goalscorer joined the Serie A champions in a deal worth €112million in July.

But Madrid has claimed 10 points from its opening four LaLiga games under new boss Julen Lopetegui, with Ronaldo's old attacking allies Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema taking up the mantle.

Former Barcelona right-back Dani Alves played in the Juventus side that lost in the 2017 Champions League final against Madrid. Alves, who moved to PSG after that, feels Los Blancos now present a more varied threat.

"I think that, contrary to what everybody thinks, Madrid is more of a team without Cristiano," he told Marca .

"Now it's a bit more difficult than it was before - before it was complicated but focused a lot on Cristiano, and now it's a bit more dangerous, at least [in terms of] how I see football and my concept of this game."

He added: "It's not going to be so easy to beat Madrid, they are more of a team now. It's obvious that Cristiano is a brutal loss for Madrid, but Madrid are Madrid."

PSG launches its Champions League campaign at Liverpool on Tuesday, while Juventus travels to Valencia at day later.

Madrid begins the quest for a fourth successive title in another LaLiga-versus-Serie A clash when it takes on last season's semi-finalists Roma.