Barcelona’s João Cancelo makes history with fourth major league title victory | OneFootball

Cancelo made history on Sunday [Getty Images]

João Cancelo has written his name into the history books in quite remarkable fashion, after securing yet another league title with Barcelona in Spain on Sunday night.

Barcelona defeated arch rivals Real Madrid 2-0 at Camp Nou to win La Liga, making Cancelo the first player in history to win four of the five major league championships. The Portugal man also played a minor role in Benfica’s Primeira Liga title victory in 2013-14, meaning he has won a national championship winners’ medal in five countries in total.

Since leaving Portugal, Cancelo has lifted the Serie A title in Italy (2018-19) with Juventus, three consecutive Premier League titles (‘21-23) with Manchester City and the German Bundesliga (2022-23) while on-loan at Bayern Munich. Therefore, the 31-year-old came into the weekend’s title-decider aware that history was within his grasp.

"Unfortunately, I didn't achieve it when I was here last time, I hope this season I can win a long-awaited La Liga title and add that next trophy to the cabinet,” Cancelo told ESPN last week. Goals by Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres meant Barca moved an impressive 14 points clear of rivals Real with just three matches left to play, securing back-to-back league titles.

Cancelo has been in excellent form since returning to the club in January on a loan deal from Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal. According to growing reports in Spain, the club are keen to secure a permanent deal for the Portuguese, who has secured the left-back spot under Hansi Flick.

Indeed, reports indicate Cancelo has already broadly agreed terms for a long-term stay, but Barca must find an agreement with Al Hilal to ensure a full transfer is concluded this summer.