Dani Alves EATS a banana thrown by fans during Barcelona's win at Villarreal



Dani Alves answered fans' attempts to taunt him during Barcelona's 3-2 victory over Villarreal... by enjoying a mid-match snack at the Estadio El Madrigal.

In scenes that thankfully haven't been seen in this country since the turn of the century, a banana was thrown on to the pitch while the Brazilian defender prepared to take a corner.

But, instead of letting the the incident get to him, Alves calmly picked up the offending fruit, unpeeled it and took a hasty mouthful before carrying on with the game - bananas after all contain high levels of potassium that give athletes energy.

Racist taunt: A banana is thrown on the pitch as Dani Alves prepares to take a corner

Feeling peckish: The Brazilian defender unpeels the offending fruit as the linesman waits

Potassium injections: Alves takes a substantial bite out of the banana before discarding the rest

Replenished: After his mid-match snack the Barcelona full-back continues with the game

Back to business: Alves takes the corner and Barcelona eventually come back to win the game 3-2

In fact, the 30-year-old commented after the game: 'I don't know who threw the banana but I want to thank him. It gave me the energy to put two more crosses in for our goals.'

Alves has often been subjected to racist taunts and called fighting racism 'a lost war' in January 2013, after segments of Real Madrid's fans abused him with monkey chants during a match.

Argetnine footballing superstar Lionel Messi scored the winner after two Villareal players scored own goals

The Catalans had the last laugh in a roller coaster match that saw the home side take a shock two goal lead before a pair of own goals and typical winner from a certain Lionel Messi gave them a 3-2 victory.



The Argentine pointed to the sky after his late goal - no doubt in honour of his former boss Tito Vilanova, who passed away aged 45 on Friday.

The victory takes Barcelona ahead of arch rivals Real Madrid in the La Liga table, although Los Blancos still have a game in hand, with both teams trailing surprise package Atletico Madrid who beat Valencia 1--0.

P.S . Alvez's Brazilian teammate Neymar appeared to lend his tongue-in-cheek support to his compatriot after the game by posting an Instagram picture of himself eating a banana, accompanied by the hashtag 'We are all monkeys'.



Alves' girlfriend Thaissa Carvalho then posted a picture of herself and others eating bananas with the hashtag #saynotoracism.