Ever-present Frenkie de Jong and Jules Kounde have proven to be Barcelona's backbone in every corner of football this season. Only a few Culers know this fact.

Neither the Frenchman nor the Dutchman have missed a single minute of football so far this calendar year.

Needless to say, Xavi Hernandez must be the luckiest coach to have his finest ballers feature in all 14 competitive matches from start to finish in 2024.

That's about 1,290 minutes of football in total, more than any other outfield player in any of Europe's big five leagues. Impressive! But that's excluding the netminders.

The outfield players who come closest to enjoying as much time are Theo Hernández (AC Milan, 1,079 minutes), followed by two more blaugranes in Ilkay Gündogan (1,061) and Robert Lewandowski (1,057). And Ronald Araujo is sixth with 1,046 minutes.

Antoine Griezmann came close in 2021.

It's not common to find such startling statistics in a new year. Playing throughout all 14 of the opening games shows a different type of work ethic and reservation.

I mean, they must have skipped so much of the yuletide supplies while their peers were crunching on them badly. 

While these players are 'clap-deserving' for their rare doggedness, Jules Kounde's regularity should come as no surprise to Culers. In early 2023, he played in 13 of the first 14 matches for a total of 1,230 minutes.

Barcelona have reportedly removed Dani Alves' status as a legend of the club after a three-judge panel at the Barcelona Provincial Court convicted the 40-year-old of sexual assault for the nightclub incident on December 31, 2022.

The ace footballer was found guilty under a new sexual liberty law that emphasizes the lack of consent of the victim as key to determining sex crimes.

The court sentenced him to a four-and-a-half-year prison term. In addition to that, the Brazilian star will also be paying €150,000 (£128,500) in damages to the victim.

That's not all; he was also banned from approaching the victim’s home or place of work and from communicating with her by any means for nine years.

Following the announcement, Barcelona, like most reputable organizations, has decided to revoke Dani's official club status. 

Remember, Dani Alves was a former Barcelona star—arguably one of the best right backs to ever grace the field. 

His contribution to the success of the club put him on the legend list, which features the names of 102 different players who represented Blaugrana, including the likes of Joan Gamper, Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, and Gerard Pique.

The Tarantula, as he's nicknamed for his physical strength, has made a total of 408 appearances for the Blaugrane. Bagged 22 goals and 105 assists. A milestone!

He has also won three UEFA Champions League titles, three FIFA Club World Cup titles, and six La Liga titles playing as a right back for FC Barcelona. That's a Culer!