Joao Cancelo exclusive: Xavi gives me freedom at Barça, I like that

Barcelona new boy Joao Cancelo continues to accumulate minutes after an August without competition. The full-back, who started for Portugal against Slovakia last week, had another 30 minutes on Monday in the Euro 2024 qualifier against Luxembourg.

After the game, and just like Joao Félix, Cancelo spoke exclusively to SPORT. He reiterated that Barça is the club of his dreams and assured that he will give everything to "explode" as a Barça player.

In addition, he sent a message of caution in the Champions League and warned that in order to win titles it will be necessary to "form a great team."

"I'm going to do everything I can to explode at Barça," he said. "I will try to show my football, my quality, but always with the help of the team, because I need it and I think we have a lot of quality in the squad. Hopefully, it will be a great season."

Referring to the importance of pulling together to succeed, he added: "It's a very young team. Some of the players, like Ferran [Torres] or [Ilkay] Gundogan, I already knew. They all welcomed me warmly, they are spectacular guys. We can only achieve great things by forming a great group."

Cancelo also praised Xavi: "The coach gives me a bit of freedom and I like that. I feel comfortable playing on the inside but also on the outside. I'll adapt to whatever he asks of me."

The Portuguese full-back, will be making his debut in front of his new fans this weekend when Barça host Real Betis at the Olympic Stadium.

"Whether it's at Montjuïc or wherever, I always want to play in the Barça shirt and show the fans and the people who believed in me how difficult it was to come to Barça," he said.

"I want to achieve great things with this club because it's where I've always dreamed of being. It's my dream club, all my friends know that. All my idols played at Barça."

The player, on loan from Manchester City, was cautious when it came to assessing Barça's chances in the Champions League, though.

"It's true that in recent years Barça have not done well in Europe, but they are a very big club," he said. "We are going to try to get Barça back to the level they have always shown in the Champions League.

"At the moment, there are teams that are bigger favourites, but we have a very good team and we can achieve great things. The squad is young but has a lot of quality."