FC Barcelona exclude veteran Dani Alves from their Europa League squad
Barcelona have omitted veteran defender Dani Alves from their Europa League squad for the knockout rounds, the club have confirmed.
The Blaugrana made 4 new signings this January, including the 38-year-old Brazilian defender. They also added Ferran Torres, Adama Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to their forward line in January.
OFFICIAL: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaves Arsenal to join Barcelona on a free transfer šµš“ pic.twitter.com/298bLdIO4h
ā GOAL (@goal) February 2, 2022
However, UEFA rules stipulate that clubs can only add three signings to their squads between the group stage and knockout rounds, meaning that one had to be left out. In the end, it was Dani Alves.
Official. Barcelona excluded Dani Alves from Europa League list. āš§š·#FCB
BarƧa were only allowed to register three new signings ā so they decided to go for Adama, Aubameyang and Ferran Torres. pic.twitter.com/cdoS7IHzmg
ā Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 2, 2022
Barcelonaās Europa League path
Barcelona dropped out of the Champions League group stages in shock circumstances under the management of Ronald Koeman, and will play their first season in the second-tier European competition for the first time in almost 2 decades.
They were handed a very tough tie too, drawn against Serie A outfit SSC Napoli, who are currently 2nd in Serie A and boast a whole host of top players. They were responsible for Leicester City dropping into the Europa Conference League, knocking them out of the group stages.
With Barcelona currently 15 points off the pace in La Liga, the Europa League offers Xavi and co. their last viable option of silverware this season, and their first European trophy since they beat Juventus in the 2014/15 Champions League final courtesy of a 3-1 scoreline and goals from Neymar and Luis Suarez, both of whom have since moved on.
