"Continues to repeat his mistakes at 29 years old" - Dutch legends call out Barcelona star after recent performances against PSG and Real Madrid
Dutch legends Ronald de Boer and Marco van Basten have slammed Barcelona defender Joao Cancelo following their defeats against Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
The Manchester City loanee left the Etihad Stadium after his relationship with manager Pep Guardiola devolved. He joined Bayern Munich on loan in January last season, and then Barca last summer on loan as well. He has been one of Barca's better players this season, helping in elevating their game and lead them through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.
His performances may have been solid through much of this season, playing 36 games across all competitions, with four goals and four assists. However, his outings against PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals and Real Madrid in La Liga were sub-par.
Those particular performances stood out enough to be noted by Dutch legends Ronald de Boer and Marco van Basten. The former discussed Cancelo on Ziggo Sports, saying (via GOAL):
“Now I know why Pep [Guardiola] doesn’t like Cancelo. This guy plays his own football and thinks it’s only about what you do with the ball. You’re a defender!!!”
Van Basten also added:
“It’s crazy that Cancelo continues to repeat his mistakes at 29 years old.”
Barcelona lost 4-1 against PSG in the second leg of their quarter-final clash, losing 5-3 on aggregate. They also lost 3-2 in the El Clasico against Real Madrid.
While he may not have played well in recently, it's unlikely that Barcelona will place Cancelo on the bench for the rest of their matches this season. There will also be conversations about his future, with the Blaugrana potentially set to sign him from Manchester City this summer.
Xavi slams lack of goal line technology after Barcelona lose to Real Madrid
Barcelona started off El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu impressively as they scored first, with Andreas Christensen finding the goal within six minutes. Real Madrid retaliated soon after with Vinicius Junior in the 18th minute. The Blaugrana scored once more through Fermin Lopez (69'), the hosts found the equalizer yet again through Lucas Vazquez (73'). Jude Bellingham (90+1') then sealed all three points with a late effort.
However, one major talking point was a chance from Lamine Yamal. It seemed to be going into the net, but Andriy Lunin was deemed to have pushed the ball back out. There have been debates around whether the ball did cross the line, but the lack of goal-line technology in La Liga hasn't made things easy.
Xavi Hernandez spoke to the press afterward the Real Madrid game, slamming the league's lack of goal-line technology. He said (via Forbes):
"In the build-up you asked me about him and I said hopefully he will go unnoticed and get things right. Well, neither [thing] happened. I'm very disappointed. La Liga says it wants to be the best in the world and doesn't have the technology... On the first matchday in Getafe I already said that I didn't like the things I saw, today it's the accumulation of nonsense."
Xavi won't be weighed down by these issues for much longer as the manager has decided to leave Barcelona at the end of the season.