The Spanish national team manager Luis Enrique has announced his squad for the European Championships this summer, and his decisions have sent shock waves through the footballing fraternity.
The former Barcelona manager has chosen to exclude every single Real Madrid player from his Euro 2020 squad, and this is the first time Spain are heading into a major tournament without a single Real Madrid player representing them.
Despite impressive performances from several Real Madrid players like Nacho and Lucas Vasquez, they have been excluded from the squad in favour of unproven players like Erik Garcia from Manchester City and Adama Traore from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Other high profile exclusions include the Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez who has helped his side win the Spanish League title this season.
Furthermore, Celta Vigo star Iago Aspas has been excluded from the squad, and Pablo Sarabia could take his place despite the former Liverpool striker being in exceptional form for Celta this season.
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has been left out of the squad as well, and Luis Enrique believes that the defender has not done enough since the turn of the year to earn his place in the squad.
Meanwhile, Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte has been called up to the national team squad after switching his allegiance from France.
The defender has played as a second fiddle to the likes of Ruben Dias and John Stones at Manchester City this season.
It is clear that Enrique has made several controversial choices in terms of his selection, and it will be interesting to see if his decisions pay off eventually.
The Spain Euro 2020 squad in full
Goalkeepers
Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), David de Gea (Manchester United), Robert Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders
Jose Gaya (Valencia), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Pau Torres (Villarreal), Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Eric Garcia (Manchester City), Diego Llorente (Leeds), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Fabian Ruiz (Napoli), Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards
Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Gerard Moreno (Villarreal), Ferran Torres (Manchester City), Adama Traore (Wolves), Pablo Sarabia (Paris St-Germain)
