FC Barcelona has received a double recovered player boost ahead of Wednesday’s Copa del Rey … [+]
FC Barcelona has received a double recovered player boost ahead of Wednesday’s Copa del Rey quarter-final clash against Athletic Club in Bilbao.
This is because Joao Cancelo and Andreas Christensen both trained with Xavi Hernandez’s first team on Tuesday morning, and have made the head coach’s squad list published before he held a pre-match press conference in the early afternoon.
Joining from Manchester City on loan in the summer transfer window, Cancelo has been a revelation for Xavi and is finally the natural right back that the club legend craved throughout last season.
He barely missed a game for the Blaugrana after completing his temporary move, but pulled up injured less than 10 minutes into a New Year trip to Las Palmas on January 4.
Test carried out by the club’s medical staff showed that Cancelo strained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, and he has not been seen on the pitch since.
This means that he was dearly missed during a 4-1 thrashing against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final, though Ronald Araujo is usually deployed in his position in El Clasico to try and contain Vinicius Jr.
The Uruguayan failed miserably in his last attempt to do so, as the Brazilian netted a half-hour hat trick in the opening 45 minutes and Araujo was later sent off.
Following a 4-2 win over Real Betis at the weekend where Xavi felt his men took a “step forward”, Barca now turns attention to the Copa del Rey which provides a realistic chance to win silverware in 2023/2024.
It is not clear whether Cancelo will start the quarter final in San Mames, meaning either Araujo or Jules Kounde is deployed at right back.
To produce more options in central defense, however, Christensen also trained with Cancelo and his teammates giving Xavi a further boost.
After a sterling debut against Betis, in what proved to be the Andalusians’ first home defeat in La Liga this term, La Masia graduate Pau Cubarsi – who celebrated his 17th birthday on Monday – has also presented a strong case to partner Araujo in the heart of the back line.
