Morata, Alonso and Bartra excluded from Spain's World Cup squad
Julen Lopetegui announced his preliminary squad for the World Cup and there was no place for Alvaro Morata, Marcos Alonso and Marc Bartra.
Spain will go into this summer's tournaments as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, so all eyes were on Lopetegui when he revealed the 23 players set for Russia on June 14.
The biggest absentees were Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata, 'Blues' full-back Marcos Alonso and Real Betis centre-back Marc Bartra.
Morata has had an inconsistent season at Stamford Bridge, only scoring 15 goals, far fewer than Iago Aspas and Rodrigo who took his place in the squad.
Alonso's exclusion is more of a surprise though considering he made the Premier League's Team of the Year for 2017-18. However, Lopetegui decided to opt for Arsenal's Nacho Monreal instead.
Bartra too has had a great end to the year after making the January switch from Borussia Dortmund to Betis, but 22-year-old Alvaro Odriozola was ahead in the pecking order as Spain try to add some youths to their squad.
Apart from that there are no surprises with the bulk of the list comprising of Real Madrid and Barcelona players, ten in total.
Here is the full list:
Goalkeepers: David De Gea (Manchester United), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao), Pepe Reina (Napoli).
Defenders: Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Nacho (Real Madrid), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal).
Midfield: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Saul (Atletico Madrid), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Thiago (Bayern Munich), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Isco (Real Madrid), David Silva (Manchester City), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid).
Forwards: Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid, Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), Rodrigo (Valencia) and Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo).