‘It’s his opinion’ – Barcelona star responds to Rio Ferdinand’s post-PSG criticism | OneFootball

Barcelona star João Cancelo has this weekend provided his take on the criticism aimed in his direction by former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand.

On-loan Manchester City man Cancelo, of course, played his part this week, as Barcelona were sent packing from the Champions League.

En route to a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, the 29-year-old endured an outing to forget, with his rash challenge on ex-Barca star Ousmane Dembélé having allowed PSG to take a decisive lead in the tie from the penalty spot.

Post-match, Cancelo, in turn, saw his defensive capabilities widely called into question once more.

And one individual who was in altogether unforgiving mood when it came to the Portuguese international’s costly mistake on Tuesday night was the aforementioned Rio Ferdinand.

Speaking as part of his punditry role for TNT Sports, ex-stopper Ferdinand labelled Cancelo’s actions completely ‘naive’ for a player of his experience.

“It was silly, naive, and like an inexperienced young player in panic station mode,” the one-time England international sniped.

Speaking in an interview of his own with ESPN this weekend, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of Ferdinand’s comments was put to Cancelo himself.

And the Blaugrana full-back showed a level head with his response, ‘accepting’ the criticism for his mistake:

“Ferdinand was a great player, but I am sure he made mistakes as well. We all do. But of course, it’s his job, he’s an analyst and he has the right to say what he thinks.

“I accept it, it’s his opinion. Maybe the way I gave the penalty away was a childish [mistake], but with how the game was, my head at the moment, well, I accept the criticism.”

Conor Laird | GSFN