Barcelona defender Joao Cancelo delivered a memorable post-match interview following his dramatic last-minute winning goal against Celta Vigo. This interview is bound to leave a lasting impression.
The 29-year-old full-back, who joined Barcelona on a season-long loan from Manchester City this summer, put on a Player of the Match performance against Rafael Benitez’s team.
After Barcelona fell behind by two goals following strikes from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Anastasios Douvikas, the home side managed to claw back with a goal from Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski quickly equalized in the 85th minute, thanks to a brilliant assist from Cancelo.
Then, with just one minute of regular time remaining, the Portuguese defender delighted the Camp Nou crowd with a tidy finish from close range, sending the stadium into euphoria. The passion and significance of this moment were clearly evident in the celebrations.
Scenes in Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/mIhvy6Io5y
— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) September 23, 2023
After the full-time whistle, Cancelo played down his performance with a humble assessment of his outing.
“I was lost in the game. I made many technical errors that are not normal in my game. I had to improve and turn things around,” he said.
“I tried to give everything until the end and we were able to come back and to win is the most important thing. If I perform, the club will love me. If not, they will kick me out.”
As well as his modest comments about Saturday’s display at the Camp Nou, many people spotted his rather terrifying facial expressions midway through the interview.
You can see footage of that moment below.
WTF que miedo hermano. pic.twitter.com/fGXqeIzbFc
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— La Masía Cruyffista (@LaMasiaDeCruyff) September 23, 2023
Here’s how social media reacted to the clip.
One said: “Bruh I actually jumped,” while another commented: “I’m convinced he’s a vampire fighting the urge to eat that journalist.”
A third wrote: “Sergi Roberto from 2015 was possessing his body and left during the interview,”and a fourth added: “At first I thought this was a Snapchat filter.”
Barcelona manager Xavi hailed his team’s “winning character” after the final whistle.
“We didn’t play well (but) came up with the epic, showing winning character,” he said. “Historically we have lacked that. This shows the generational change we have, they didn’t give up, two nil down at home.”
Xavi added: “I think this generation fights until the end. What happened today is a tremendous turning point of winning character, we didn’t play well but it’s about character, faith, the epic.”