João Cancelo grins at former Benfica man as Barcelona see off Levante | OneFootball

Barcelona is back at the top of the Spanish League, just one matchday later. João Cancelo’s team did not waste the opportunity and, after Real Madrid’s defeat, triumphed at home against Levante (3-0), managed by Luís Castro, former youth coach at Benfica.

With the Portuguese international in the starting lineup, the Catalans started strong, and in a well-worked corner, Marc Bernal opened the scoring just four minutes in. Opportunities kept coming for Barcelona, who increased their lead before halftime, with a classy finish from Frenkie de Jong after a brilliant assist from Cancelo in the 32nd minute.

After the break, the “Blaugrana” controlled the game and Fermín López, in the 81st minute, sealed the result at Camp Nou. With this outcome, Barcelona now holds a one-point advantage over Real Madrid, while Levante remains in second-to-last place.

The 31-year-old defender admitted after the match that this was his best performance for the “Culés” since his return. “Was it my best game since coming back? Yes, definitely. It’s about seizing the opportunity, I was training very well and felt that the coach was going to bet on me,” he said.

This season, wearing the Barcelona shirt, João Cancelo – valued at 10 million euros – has played in six matches: four in La Liga and two in the Copa del Rey. In 248 minutes on the pitch, the player provided one assist.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.