Official: Three Barcelona stars called up by Spain national team; Alba, Fati, Ferran miss out

New Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has announced his first-ever squad list as the man in charge ahead of La Roja’s upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying fixtures this month. And only three Barcelona players have made the cut to the roster.

Spain’s last assignment was the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, when former manager Luis Enrique named as many as eight Bar♪5a players in the squad for the coveted tournament.

However, his successor, De la Fuente, has opted to choose just three Barcelona stars in the form of Pedri, Gavi and Alejandro Balde for the upcoming matches.

There is no place in the squad for veteran left-back Jordi Alba, fellow defender Eric Garcia and forwards Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres in the squad.

The exclusions of Fati, Garcia and Torres do not come as major surprises considering that they have hardly been playing regularly at the club level this season.

Alba, though, was tipped to take over as captain of the Spain national team following the retirement of Sergio Busquets, but De la Fuente has decided to overlook the left-back, who has also not featured prominently of late.

Spain are scheduled to play Norway at home before taking on Scotland away in Glasgow in their first two fixtures of the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifiers.

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— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) March 17, 2023