The genius of João Cancelo

BarcelonaAndreas Christensen's umpteenth injury led to an unexpected move in Barça's winter market. Hansi Flick was short of a center-back, and with the Blaugrana entity limited in its movements because it was – and continues to be – exceeding the salary limit, the Dane's long-term absence opened up the possibility of strengthening. The options that had Hansi Flick's approval were limited, but Jorge Mendes, always well-connected with Deco – he was his agent when he was a footballer – and with Joan Laporta – they maintain a close relationship –, facilitated a solution: João Cancelo. For the super-agent it was a win-win: he continued to offer solutions to Barça and, at the same time, brought his client out of obscurity, who had declared himself in rebellion in Saudi Arabia and longed to return to Barcelona, where he had already played on loan for the Blaugrana in the 2023-24 season.

Cancelo arrived out of shape – he had only played in six games for Al-Hilal – and his adaptation has been progressive. With Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde as starters at right-back and left-back respectively, the Portuguese played his first minutes in the last half hour of the Blaugrana's defeat at Anoeta (2-1) corresponding to matchday 20 of La Liga, on January 18. Playing on the left, he was seen to be lacking competitive rhythm and disconnected from the team's automatisms. His first start came a week later, on the following matchday, in which he played 60 minutes of a comfortable victory against Oviedo (3-0).

Little by little he would add minutes, but his main role was to give rest to Balde, who had been left without a replacement on the left flank, since, from the end of November, Gerard Martín would switch to playing more as a left-sided centre-back than a winger. Without making much noise, and (re)entering on the right foot in a dressing room where he celebrates Gavi's return, with whom he already forged a great friendship during his first spell at Barça and who has not hesitated to define as "the soul of the team, on and off the pitch", Cancelo professionally dedicated himself to training until he earned Flick's trust. The coach rewarded him with his first start in an important match in the second leg against Atlético de Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.

Cancelo, Europe's most dribbling full-back

Cancelo would play the 90 minutes of that match, and put in a good performance in a duel in which the blaugranas came close (3-0) to leveling the tie and forcing extra time. It would be precisely in that match, due to the misfortunes of others –Koundé first and Balde then suffered muscular injuries–, when Cancelo would begin a series of matches that have made him the most influential full-back on the European continent in the last month, taking all competitions into account.

According to data provided to ARA by Albert Valor, an analyst for the specialized company Opta, the Portuguese player is the one who dribbles the most (19 completed dribbles from 36 attempts in 7 matches) and only Nico O'Reilly, from City, has made more interventions in the opponent's area than the blaugrana since February 27, with a similar number of minutes played (520 for the Briton, 581 for Cancelo). Regarding crosses, Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), with 50 more minutes played (630) and Federico Dimarco (Inter), with fewer (425), have delivered more, although only Grimaldo surpasses Cancelo in crosses that end with a shot or a teammate's control: 11 for the Valencian full-back, compared to 4 for the Italian and the Portuguese. In absolute goal and assist figures for the entire season and all competitions, Grimaldo leads this ranking (14 goals and 11 assists in 39 matches), followed, precisely, by Di Marco, with 7 goals and 15 assists in the same number of matches played. Cancelo, with 13 matches as a blaugrana, has scored one goal and provided four assists.

From the Spanish League and also involved in the Champions League, the blaugrana full-back is only rivaled by Marcos Llorente, an opponent today (9 PM, Movistar) in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. With 160 fewer minutes, the Colchonero has attempted almost the same number of crosses (15 to 11, with 4 successful for Cancelo and 2 for Llorente), but has entered the box less and dribbled much less: Cancelo averages more than three interventions per match inside the box -Llorente, 2- and attempts 5 dribbles, compared to 1 for Llorente.

However, the defender trained in Benfica's academy has earned his place in Flick's starting eleven through sheer merit. "The coach has believed in him from the very first moment. When he arrived, there was a lot of noise, saying Mendes is a friend of the president, that Flick wanted a center-back and a full-back arrived... He agreed and blessed the loan as soon as Deco presented the possibility to him, and now the result is evident," a source familiar with the negotiations defends to ARA. The end of the season – and whether he can be released from his contract with Al-Hilal until 2027 – will determine if he ultimately manages to stay at Barça beyond the loan. "There are always options," he said in the pre-match, in a message in which, despite being cautious, he does not hide his desire to continue at Barça.