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Spain manager Luis Enrique has announced his squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 tournament, which will begin in July.
The former Barcelona coach went ahead with a 24-man squad despite being allowed to name 26 players in his team. Quite shockingly, there will be no Real Madrid players representing Spain at Euro 2020.
Spain's 24-man squad for Euro 2020
Goalkeepers: Unai Simon, David de Gea, Robert Sanchez
Defenders: Jose Gaya, Jordi Alba, Pau Torres, Aymeric Laporte, Eric Garcia, Diego Llorente, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Llorente
Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Rodri, Pedri, Thiago, Koke, Fabian Ruiz
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Forwards: Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal, Alvaro Morata, Gerard Moreno, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore, Pablo Sarabia
We take a look at 3 players who were left out of Spain's Euro 2020 squad.
#3 Nacho Fernandez
Nacho is a player who can play in any position in the team's backline. He has proved time and time again that he is a dependable cog in the Real Madrid squad. This makes his exclusion all the more strange, especially considering it is Eric Garcia who leapfrogged him into the Spain squad.
Garcia, who is not even a permanent fixture in Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side, appears to be a more important player in Luis Enrique's plans. Garcia, however, has only managed 360 minutes of playing across all competitions this season.
#2 Iago Aspas
Iago Aspas overachieved in the 2020-21 campaign with Celta Vigo, helping them finish eighth in the La Liga table. This was the first time the Spanish club had finished in the top half of the table in five years.
The 33-year-old was the second-highest Spanish goalscorer in the La Liga during the 2020-21 season, scoring 14 goals and providing 13 assists in 33 matches. Aspas was one of the favourites to receive a call-up to the national team ahead of the Euros, however, it was not to be.
#1 Sergio Ramos
Despite dealing with multiple injuries this season, Sergio Ramos has proven what an important player he is at Real Madrid. The defender even scored four goals in 21 appearances for the Spanish giants this season.
This could explain why even Luis Enrique felt forced to explain his controversial decision to leave the Spanish skipper out in the cold ahead of Euro 2020.
“I’ve not included Ramos because he’s not been able to play much this season, especially since January he’s not been fit enough. And at times, he not even training with the group at his club," explained Enrique.
Many found Enrique's explanation to be feeble at best as Diego Llorente's inclusion in the squad flies in the face of the reasons provided for excluding Ramos. The Leeds United player has had an injury-ridden season and only played 1342 minutes, which pale in comparison to Ramos' total of 2255.
