João Cancelo's performance is prompting Hansi Flick to rethink the left-back position!
João Cancelo was expected to serve as a squad rotation option under Hansi Flick at Barcelona. Instead, the Portuguese full-back is delivering the finest form of his career, putting the German manager in an increasingly awkward position when it comes to selecting his starting eleven.
An outstanding performance by João Cancelo
According to journalist Toriblanco, as cited by Barça Universal, Cancelo is performing so well that Flick can no longer justify treating him as merely a backup. The 32-year-old has found the net against Racing Santander, Denmark, and Norway in quick succession, proving to be a persistent offensive threat capable of causing damage from either side of the pitch.
His rise began in mid-September, when Cancelo opened the scoring in Barcelona's 7-2 thrashing of Racing Santander at Camp Nou, with a rocket from the edge of the box that hit the crossbar and went in at a speed of 128.5 km/h, a goal he himself described as the best of his career. That goal won La Liga's Goal of the Month award for September, which the club announced on October 1. The international break only added to his brilliance: Cancelo found the net in Portugal's 4-2 win over Denmark, then equalized for his country against Norway at the Estádio do Dragão on October 4, with a powerful strike in the 38th minute after the ball fell to him from a long throw by Nuno Mendes.