Koeman released his first squad list this Saturday as Barcelona coach. Of the 25 players selected for the Nastic encounter, the main news is the fact that Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal are absent.
Both are still on the way out of the club although the Uruguayan's situation has changed at times. From being basically out weeks ago, the Uruguayan has gone from having a chance to stay to being strongly linked with Juventus and Atletico in a matter of days.
However, the club are remaining firm and the striker will not play the first friendly of the season. And that news has been confirmed.
Vidal's situation is different. The Chilean has accepted that he will not play for Barca this season and the club feel the same way. This news is further proof that it is a matter of time before he leaves.
Who is in the squad though is Lionel Messi. The Argentine seems to have put that famous fax he sent behind him and he will lead the Catalan giants for another season.
Trincao and Pedri, two of the new faces, have been included as has Coutinho after his loan spell at Bayern.
Pjanic, the other signing this summer, has only trained once so far after recovering from coronavirus. That is why he is not part of the 25 man squad. Ter Stegen is still recovering from his operation.
The 25 man Barca squad for the Nastic match is the following: Neto, Iñaki Peña, Arnau Tenas, Semedo, Piqué, Busquets, Griezmann, Messi, Dembélé, Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Braithwaite, Sergi Roberto, De Jong, Junior, Coutinho, Aleñá, Trincao, Pedri, Riqui Puig, Ronald Araújo, Cuenca, Miranda, Konrad and Ilaix Moriba.
September 12, 2020