Cancelo completes his first training session and could debut in Santander

The FC Barcelona squad held its final training session before visiting Racing de Santander (Thursday, 9:00 PM CEST) this Wednesday at the Ciutat Esportiva, with Joao Cancelo as the main novelty. The Portuguese player worked for the first time under the orders of Hansi Flick and could be included in the manager's squad for the Copa del Rey round of 16 clash.

Flick himself made it clear that Cancelo "could get some minutes" at El Sardinero, once his six-month loan move was finalized. The club took advantage of Andreas Christensen's absence to sign him, and although the Portuguese player is not yet registered with LaLiga, he already has a federation license to play

Warm welcome for Cancelo, ready to debut with Barça

On Tuesday, Joao was welcomed by his teammates with the traditional gauntlet. The Barreiro native already shared with most of the Barça locker room in 23/24, where he **played 42 official matches** under **Xavi Hernández**.In a presentation, the 31-year-old full-back made it clear that he is coming with the intention of fighting for a place, but mainly to help the team win trophies, something he could not do in his first spell at Can Barça.

Welcome, Cancelo! 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/0CpxrzqS1i

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 14, 2026

The Catalans, for their part, arrive at the duel against Racing at their best footballing and morale moment of the season: with a majority of available players and full confidence after winning the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday, a match that also marked the tenth consecutive victory for the Blaugrana team in all competitions.

Cancelo played his last match with Al Hilal on December 22, but he is physically fit to play minutes in Santander. The Portuguese player has completely overcome the hamstring injury in his thigh from mid-September that kept him out of the first half of the Saudi league, due to the foreign player quota limit.For the Copa del Rey, Joao did not play any of Barça's three matches in 23/24. A knee injury kept him out against Barbastro (2-3) and Unionistas (1-3), while in the quarter-final defeat against Athletic (4-2 after extra time) he was a substitute

Barça to visit Racing with four absences

For the visit to Racing, Hansi Flick will not be able to count on a total of three players due to injury. In addition to Christensen and Gavi, who have long-term injuries, Dro Fernández will also not be available. The youth player was also not present for the Super Cup final due to muscle discomfort that also prevented him from training normally in the last two sessions.

The other absence in the Copa del Rey round of 16 will be Frenkie de Jong. The Dutchman was sent off in the 90th minute in the victory against Real Madrid with a direct red card and will serve a one-match suspension on Thursday. According to the RFEF disciplinary regulations, suspensions in the Supercopa are served in the immediate Copa or League matches.