Record in the Clásico?
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Winning Serie A in 2018/19, three-time Premier League champion from 2020/21 to 2022/23 and also champion in the Bundesliga in 2022/23: João Cancelo has already won three of the top 5 leagues with Juventus Turin, Manchester City and Bayern Munich. Now the Portuguese has another championship ahead of him with FC Barcelona. With a win in the Clásico, the 31-year-old right-back can add the LaLiga title to his trophy collection. For Cancelo, the championship in the fourth of the five top leagues would be a historic unique selling point, as no player has ever achieved this feat.
Cancelo is currently one of 22 players to have won championship titles in three of the five strongest European leagues. These include stars like Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Arjen Robben, and two Germans, Sami Khedira and Jens Lehmann, are also represented.
A triumph in LaLiga would be Cancelo’s second championship win during a loan spell. After starting his career at Benfica, his path led via Valencia, Inter Milan, Juventus and Man City on loan to Munich in the winter of 2022/23. There he helped Bayern under coach Thomas Tuchel win the championship on the final day of the match. He then returned to Man City, was loaned to Barça for a year and then moved to Al-Hilal for 25 million euros in 2024/25. In January 2026, Cancelo left Saudi Arabia on loan to the Catalans, who were looking for defensive reinforcements due to injuries. With his numerous changes, Cancelo achieved transfer proceeds of around 145 million euros. Matthijs de Ligt is the only defender for whom more was paid.
With an eleven-point lead and four games remaining, first place is all but assured for Barcelona, even if they lose to Real Madrid. A draw in the Clásico is enough for the title, and a win would also bring a milestone within reach for Barça. With a triumph, the lead over Real increases to 14 points, the best value after 38 match days is 15 points. The next titleless season awaits the Royals, most recently this was the case in 2020/21. Meanwhile, the league leaders have won ten LaLiga games in a row, making them by far the strongest team in Europe.
Winning LaLiga would mean Cancelo’s seventh championship, including six in top leagues and one in Portugal. However, in the ranking of players with the most titles in the best leagues, he is far away from the top spots. The situation is different for teammate Robert Lewandowski: Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Kingsley Coman and Ryan Giggs currently hold the record with 13 championships. Lewandowski has twelve titles – ten in the Bundesliga and two in LaLiga – and could also reach 13 with a draw in the Clásico.
It is unclear whether Lewandowski or Cancelo will stay with the Catalans beyond the season. The bosses seem to want to extend the Pole’s contract by a year, but the striker has not yet made a decision. The Spanish “Sport” meanwhile reports that Hansi Flick has given the green light for Cancelo to stay, but due to Barça’s financial situation, Al-Hilal and the player would have to accommodate the Catalans. The change would therefore have to be made free of charge, and a salary reduction would also be a prerequisite. The Portuguese has a contract with Al-Hilal until 2027 and earns an estimated 12 million euros per year. At Barça he has five scorers in 19 games and his current market value is 9 million euros.
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