Weekend matches in the various major leagues produced a new continental leader in another category: Barcelona’s Dani Alves  surged to the top in the FTBL ranking of South American defenders.

Alves was helped by Barcelona’s 2:0 win over Málaga in La Liga and the fact that his main rival, Brazil skipper Lúcio, slipped as Inter Milan fell to leaders Sampdoria 0:1 in the Serie A.

Alves now sits at the top with an overall FTBL rating of 120.46 points, while Lúcio is 2nd with a tally of 113.63 points. Alves has a perfect chance of retaining the leadership in the next round, as he will have a plank of just 2.67 points to beat, while Lúcio will face a higher plank of 14.6 rating points.