Paris Saint-Germain’s triumph over Monaco in the Coupe de la Ligue final not only added another trophy to Dani Alves’ cabinet, but made the Brazilian the player with the most winners’ medals in the history of professional football.
Ryan Giggs and Maxwell were both Alves’ equals ahead of Saturday’s game, the trio sitting on 35 titles apiece before the right-back edged into the outright lead.
Starting out with Bahia in Brazil, Alves claimed the regional Copa del Noroeste in 2002 to kick off an unparalleled run that continued with a further five crowns at Sevilla, including the 2006/07 Copa del Rey.
But it was in Barcelona where he really kicked on and hoovered up six LaLiga titles, four Copas, four Supercopa de Espana wins, three Champions Leagues, three UEFA Super Cups, and three Club World Cups to add a further 23 trophies between 2008 and 2016.
Leaving for Juventus, the Serie A and Coppa Italia fell his way in 2016/17 before a switch to PSG earned him the French Super Cup and League Cup this season, which are set to be added to with at least the Ligue 1 title in the coming weeks.
“Today I oust you, Maxwell,” said Alves after Saturday’s 3-0 win with the Brazilian claiming his 35 winners’ medals over 17 years, compared to the 24 years of Manchester United legend Giggs.
The former left-back’s haul includes trophies with Cruzeiro, Ajax, Inter, a Champions League with Barcelona and four Ligue 1 victories with PSG, whereas Giggs won the Premier League 13 times as well as two Champions Leagues.
