Riqui Puig out of Barcelona squad and no B team defender called up
Barça have just two centre-backs available for Saturday's game against Alaves
Ronald Koeman has called up 21 players for Saturday's game with Deportivo Alaves with Riqui Puig left behind in Catalonia.
Koeman can name a squad of up to 23 for league games, with benched extended due to the coronavirus pandemic, but has opted not to call up Puig.
The Dutch coach later explained in a news conference that he prefers some players to stay behind and train intensively rather than travel for the sake of it.
The other surprise is that no Barça B defender has been called up despite the fact the senior team only have two centre-backs available this weekend: Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet.
Frenkie de Jong had to play in defence in midweek when Ronald Araujo injured his thigh. The Uruguayan is out for around three weeks.
Samuel Umtiti is also still injured, although he has now returned to light training. Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is also back training but won't travel this weekend.
[CONVOCATORIA]
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) 30 de octubre de 2020
⚽ #AlavesBarça pic.twitter.com/x7CbqVVReu
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