Dani Alves is the new signing to miss out on Barcelona's Europa League squad after the club confirmed his omission on Wednesday.
The Brazilian, who rejoined the Blaugrana in November, was finally registered for LaLiga duty at the start of January but will not feature for the club in their European campaign.
Alves was joined at the club by fellow new arrivals Ferran Torres, Adama Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January, but only three would be permitted to be included in the Europa League squad.
UEFA regulations prohibit any more than three new additions to European squads after the January transfer window.
As such, Barca had more new signings than free spaces, with 38-year-old Alves ultimately the one left out.
Ousmane Dembele has been included, however, despite his contract stand-off seeing tensions rise at the club over the past few weeks.
President Joan Laporta openly suggested the situation might make it "more difficult" for Dembele to feature, though he did leave that up to the discretion of head coach Xavi.
Like Alves, young forwards Ez Abde and Ferran Jutgla were left out of the selection despite breaking into the first-team squad – neither were registered with UEFA at the start of the season, nor do either qualify as a homegrown Barca player, therefore would have been competing with the new signings for spaces in the squad.
Barca face Napoli in their Europa League knockout play-off, hosting them on February 17 before going to Naples a week later.
Minnesota United v Sporting Kansas City: ‘It’s what I’ve waited for’ - Oluwaseyi
Minnesota United forward Tani Oluwaseyi is relishing his chance in the first team ahead of their clash with Sporting Kansas City.
The Loons have enjoyed a strong start to the MLS season and sit fifth in the Western Conference.
Sporting KC, meanwhile, sit three points below them in 10th having won just two of their opening nine matches.
Oluwaseyi scored the opening goal in Minnesota’s 3-0 win over Charlotte last weekend, which ended a run of three games without a victory.
Asked how it feels to break into the starting line-up after spending his first year at the club on loan, Oluwaseyi, who has scored a joint-high three goals, said:
“It's something that I've been waiting for, for I guess the last three years.
“I hoped that I could do it in year one, and that was kind of the goal going in, but everyone has a different journey, which is very evident in the game.
“So it took a couple of years, but I think being here now, being given the opportunity, the biggest thing for me is just grabbing an opportunity and making the most with it.”
‘We can’t control the Opta supercomputer’ – Eidevall says Arsenal’s destiny is in their own hands
Jonas Eidevall insists Arsenal are still focused on their title push despite being given a 0 per cent chance of winning the Women’s Super League by the Opta supercomputer.
The Gunners sit in third place ahead of Sunday’s match against Everton and are six points behind leaders Manchester City.
Chelsea occupy second place, three points ahead of Arsenal, but with a game in hand on the teams around them.
Asked if he thought his side could do something special despite the Opta supercomputer’s prediction, Eidevall did not rule his team out of the race.
He said: “It's about for us focusing on what we can control.
"The Opta supercomputer is definitely one of the things that we can't control. So, they can make their calculations, but we have to focus on our performances.”
Brazil legend Marta to retire from international football
Brazil star Marta has announced she will retire from international football at the end of 2024.
The 38-year-old is the all-time highest scorer for Brazil, netting 116 goals in 175 matches for the national team.
She is also the top-scorer in the Women’s World Cup with 17 goals, finishing as a runner-up in 2007 when Brazil lost in the final to Germany.
The forward has won three Copa America Femenina titles and was part of the Brazil team that won silver medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
Marta could make her sixth appearance for Brazil at this year's Games if she is selected in the squad at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
"If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because, regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team," Marta told CNN in an interview on Thursday.
"There will be no more Marta from 2025 in the national team as an athlete.
"I am very calm about this because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes."
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