Diego Kochen named on Barcelona’s Champions League roster: how many Americans could play in the competition?

The 2023-24 UEFA Champions League group stage gets underway on 19 September and there could be a new American to look out for in Europe’s elite club competition: Barcelona goalkeeper Diego Kochen.

Which USMNT stars will play in this season’s Champions League?

Several established USMNT players are, of course, expected to take part, such as Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah, who have both moved to AC Milan, Gio Reyna at Borussia Dortmund and Ricardo Pepi, Sergiño Dest and Malik Tillman, all of whom play for PSV Eindhoven, who had to come through two qualifying rounds.

Defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is also expected to feature for Scottish champions Celtic, although Manchester City’s Zack Steffen appears unlikely to be involved after the back-up goalkeeper was told earlier this summer he had no future at the club.

On Tuesday, Barcelona announced their roster for the group stage and amongst the 27 players registered to play in the competition is Kochen, who will presumably be third-choice goalkeeper - at best - behind Marc-André ter Stegen and Iñaki Peña.

Who is Diego Kochen?

The 17-year-old is technically signed to Barcelona Atlètic, the Catalans’ reserve team but has been named on the bench in a couple of league matches this season, with the club having been unable to register Peña with LaLiga. Although he has yet to play a single minute of soccer for the first team, he has obviously done enough to impress head coach Xavi Hernández, who has picked fellow youngster Ander Astralaga as the fourth goalkeeper.

The 27-player list includes seven other reserve and academy players, in addition to Kochen, who is of Venezuelan descent but has represented the United States at under-17 level.

Barcelona’s roster for the 2023-24 Champions League group stage