Dani Alves left out of Barcelona's Europa League squad

Posted Thursday, February 03, 2022 by Marca.com

The defender will not feature in Europe this season, allowing him to focus on LaLiga Santander

Dani Alves

One of the worst-kept secrets in Spanish football has now been made known as Dani Alves has been left out of Barcelona's squad list for the Europa League knockout rounds.

The Catalans had to omit one of their four winter signings from their European squad, with them set to face Serie A side Napoli on February 17 and 24, and MARCA's reports that the Brazilian would be the one left out have been proven true.

Ousmane Dembele, who was already on the European list from the Champions League group phase, remains part of the squad alongside new signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Adama Traore, and Ferran Torres. There are also eight Barcelona B players in the squad, those being Ilias Akhomach, Astralaga Balde, Arnau Comas, Jandro, Gavi, Alvaro Sanz, and Arnau Tenas.

A number of reasons have contributed to Alves' exclusion. The first is that the Blaugrana are well covered at right-back with Sergino Dest, Oscar Mingueza, Ronald Araujo, and Sergi Roberto all able to play there.

The second is that he is 38 years old and Xavi Hernandez knows that LaLiga Santander is Barcelona's priority, with the Catalans desperate to finish in the top four.