Joao Cancelo is gearing up for Barcelona’s upcoming UEFA Champions League quarter-final encounter with Kylian Mbappe’s PSG in mid-April.
As the match against the renowned French team approaches, Cancelo has expressed his admiration for Mbappe, acknowledging him as a top-tier player on the global stage.
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In his personal ranking, Cancelo places Mbappe among the world’s elite, alongside four of his Manchester City teammates, rounding out his selection of the top five players in the world.
“Mbappé is a player that should always be kept in mind. He is currently one of the top 3 players in the world. I am a fan of Bernardo Silva, there is also Haaland, de Bruyne, and Rodri,” Cancelo said in an interview with Portuguese sports newspaper ‘A Bola’ (via Barca Universal).
Joao Cancelo’s inclusion of four of his ex-Manchester City colleagues in his top-five players list isn’t unexpected, given his three-and-a-half-year tenure with the team.
His strained ties with manager Pep Guardiola led to successive loan spells at Bayern Munich for the latter half of the 2022/23 season and at Barcelona for the 2023/24 season.
Kylian Mbappe is gearing up for what could be his final shot at Champions League glory with PSG, as rumors suggest he might depart the Parisian club when the season concludes.
Barcelona, with Cancelo among their ranks, faces a formidable challenge in their quest for the Champions League crown. They must first overcome PSG, and potentially, they’ll encounter either Manchester City or Real Madrid in the subsequent rounds.
Cancelo remains optimistic about Barcelona’s prospects and has described clinching the Champions League trophy with the Catalan giants as the fulfillment of a “dream.”
“It will be a very difficult match, but we will try, we are Barcelona, and we will try to play our game and achieve victory.
“Since I arrived here, this has been a dream, let’s dream, we have every right to do it. We are a young team but we have a lot of future and I think we are on the right track. I have a feeling that it can go well,” Joao Cancelo said, via Barca Universal.
The first match between Barcelona and PSG will be played in Paris on Wednesday, April 10, and the second leg will happen a week later, on Tuesday, April 16.
