Luis Enrique overlooks Real Madrid for Spain-Italy semi-final

Luis Enrique has announced his Spain squad for the upcoming Nations League semi-final against Italy and has again elected not to call a single player from Real Madrid for his 23-man squad. Among the new faces joining up with La Roja are Barcelona youngster Gavi and 18-year-old Villarreal winger Yeremi, while Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso returns to the squad and Pedri returns after a rest following the European Championship.

In the 100 years of the Spanish Football Federation’s existence up to Luis Enrique’s second stint at the helm of La Roja there had never been a Spain squad that did not contain at least one Real Madrid player. The Spain boss has now named two consecutive squads without a Blanco involved despite a raft of injuries depriving him of some of his regular players, including his two starting strikers Álvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno.

Among the other notable injury absences are Dani Olmo, Thiago, Abel Ruiz, Jordi Alba, Carlos Soler, José Luis Gayà and Dani Carvajal, the Real Madrid full back’s spell on the sidelines being the main reason there is no Bernabéu representation among Spain’s senior squad at the moment.

Spain face Italy at San Siro on 6 October for a place in the Nations League final, where either France or Belgium will await the winner. The final and third-place playoff games will both be played on 10 October, at San Siro and the Juventus Stadium, respectively.

Spain squad for Nations League semi-final

Keepers: Unai Simón, De Gea, Robert Sánchez.

Defenders: Porro, Azpilicueta, Laporte, Eric García, Íñigo Martínez, Pau Torres, Reguilón, Marcos Alonso.

Midfielders: Rodri, Busquets, Gavi, Koke, Merino, Pedri, Marcos Llorente, Yeremi.

Forwards: Ferran Torres, Oyarzabal, Fornals, Sarabia.