An update on the wellbeing of Barcelona star João Cancelo has come to the fore late this evening.
Full-back Cancelo, of course, has been unavailable to boss Xavi for Barca’s last two outings.
This comes after the on-loan Manchester City man picked up a knee injury early in the Blaugrana’s La Liga downing of Las Palmas last week.
After first sitting out the club’s Copa del Rey victory over Barbastro, Cancelo was then absent once more on Thursday, as his teammates got the job done against Osasuna to book a showdown with Clásico rivals Real Madrid in the finale of the Supercopa de España.
Having travelled to Saudi Arabia with the rest of Xavi’s squad, the hope had been that the Portuguese would be back in contention for a starting berth for Sunday’s Riyadh showpiece.
But, if the latest word stemming from the media is anything to go by, this will in fact not be the case.
As per a report from Toni Juanmartí of Diario Sport, Cancelo taking part in the latest edition of El Clásico is ‘almost impossible’.
Though he has not been officially ruled out as of yet, the delicate nature of the 29-year-old’s knee problem means that no risks will be taken with his recovery, meaning Cancelo’s chances of featuring at the weekend look slim to none.
Conor Laird | GSFN
