Barcelona dodged a major bullet with João Cancelo, who appeared to suffer a serious knee injury against Las Palmas but ended up having only a strained ligament that will keep him out for a short period of time.
The Portuguese full-back will miss Sunday’s Copa del Rey clash against Barbastro, but there’s a good chance that Cancelo will be back in time to make the trip to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Super Cup next week.
That’s according to coach Xavi Hernández, who spoke to the press on Saturday and said Cancelo is not yet ruled out for next Thursday’s semi-final against Osasuna and will make the squad if his recovery goes according to plan.
“Cancelo is not discarded for the Super Cup game. If he recovers well, he will make the list”.
Barça should be careful about not rushing Cancelo back for what is the least important of all competitions the club is playing for this season, but his injury does appear to be minor and he should be back sooner rather than later.
But only when he’s 100%, please. We really, really need him.