Barcelona defender brings back two gifts from national team duty

Barcelona defender brings back two gifts from national team duty Xavi Espart has arguably been Barcelona’s best left-back this season and has been the revelation of the summer so far. The youngster has made the position his own, and Joao Cancelo stands as a worthy candidate to compete for the starting spot at left-back. Meanwhile, however, the Portuguese star was called up by Jorge Jesus for national team duty and started all four games for his country at right-back. His performances in the position were spectacles to behold. Cancelo returns with an edge As reported by SPORT now, the full-back has returned to Barcelona to rejoin club dynamics and could not have arrived in any better form. Cancelo’s international break, in many ways, was a gift to Hansi Flick as the player performed at a spectacular level in an attacking sense and even scored two goals. Cancelo is in a great run of form. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images) He was already stellar for Barcelona in his limited minutes, and his international performances have only seen his stock shoot higher. Having scored against Denmark and Norway, the veteran reminded the world of his quality at right-back – something Hansi Flick may now seriously consider Espart’s quality at left-back. Moreover, the manager has Alejandro Balde to provide cover at left-back and it is clear that the right-back department can do with more attacking firepower. Jules Kounde, after all, is out of form while Eric Garcia lacks the attacking edge that a typical full-back must provide. A second gift In addition to bringing back great form, Cancelo also brought back a second special gift for Hansi Flick in the form of his suspension. The defender is suspended for Portugal’s next game. (Photo by Marius Nordnes / Nordnes Foto/Getty Images) Over Portugal’s four games in the international break, two were against Norway and Cancelo was booked in both games. As a result, he is suspended for Portugal’s next game in the UEFA Nations League which will be against Denmark in mid-November. Given his unavailability, the national team manager may thus opt to leave him out of the squad at the time – something that will be invaluable to Barcelona and Hansi Flick’s plans. After all, the next international break will come immediately after some massive clashes in Barcelona’s calendar.