Barcelona
Dani Alves left out of Barcelona's Europa League squad list
After a lengthy debate between coaching staff, it was decided that the Brazilian right-back will be omitted from Barça's Europa League squad.
Dani Alves won't be part of the Barcelona side that takes on Napoli for a place in the Europa League Last 16 later this month. AS USA understands that the veteran full-back is the player who Xavi will leave out of the squad list for the Europa League, which has to be submitted to UEFA by midnight tonight. Article 46 of UEFA's regulations states that from "the knockout round play-offs, a club may register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches in the current competition". With Pierre Emerick Aubameyang's signing now official, Barça have brought in four players during the January window - Alves, Adama Traoré and Ferran Torres. Xavi had to leave one of the four out.
The coach placed priority on the attacking positions before making his final decision. The team needs balance and scoring goals has been an issue this season - those factors are vital when playing in Europe. For that reason, he has opted to include his three new forwards in the list and make do without a defender.
Alves understands
The coach informed Alves of his decision after this morning's training session and explained his reasoning. The Brazilian understood perfectly and accepted the decision. Apart from focusing on the forward positions, Xavi already has several options for the right flank- and not just Sergiño Dest and Óscar Mingueza, two players who he doesn't particularly have a lot of faith in. An alternative would be to play with three centre-back with Araújo out wide, or even Adama as a wing back.
Barça cannot be left short up front where they are already missing Ansu Fati, who is out for 10 weeks, and possibly Ousmane Dembélé as well while his situation unravels. Xavi is also unable to count on two forwards from the B team - Ferran Jutglà and Ez Abde as neither was included in the B list submitted to UEFA in September. To be eligible for the B list, players must have spent at least three full seasons playing in the youth teams which isn't the case for Jutglà or Abde, who only joined Barça last year.