Luis Enrique has made the shock decision to leave Sergio Ramos out of his Spain squad for Euro 2020.
The 35-year-old has captained Spain at the past two major tournaments and is his country’s most-capped player of all time, featuring in 180 matches.
The veteran defender was an integral member of the squad that won the European Championship in 2008 and 2012 as well as the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
However, Ramos’ lack of regular game-time due to injury issues for Real Madrid this calendar year has ultimately counted against him, despite Enrique opting to name a reduced 24-man squad.
Uefa increased the squad size from 23 players to 26 for this summer’s European Championship and Enrique is the first manager to decide against using up the full allocation.
Ramos has played just once since the end of March and he struggled in that game as Real were outplayed during a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League semi final.
His absence means that Spain does not have a single representative from Real Madrid in their squad for a major tournament for the first time in the country’s history.
Ramos’ place in Spain’s starting line-up could be filled by Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte, who has been called up for the first time since switching his international allegiance from France.
Laporte is one of two uncapped players in Spain’s squad, alongside Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise this season after spending the 2019-20 campaign on loan at League One Rochdale.
David De Gea, Eric Garcia, Diego Llorente, Cesar Azpilicueta, Rodri, Thiago Alcantara, Ferran Torres and Adama Traore, are the other Premier League representatives in Enrique’s squad.
Spain squad – in full
Goalkeepers: David De Gea (Manchester United), Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), Robert Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders: Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Jose Gaya (Valencia), Pau Torres (Villarreal), Eric Garcia (Manchester City), Diego Llorente (Leeds United), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Fabian (Napoli)
Forwards: Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Gerard Moreno (Villarreal), Ferran Torres (Manchester City), Adama Traore (Wolves), Pablo Sarabia (PSG)
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3fh0uiY
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