Reason why Joao Cancelo is not in the Barcelona squad list to face Slavia Prague | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to fly out to Prague today as they take on Slavia Prague in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night in a must-win game to keep their slim hopes of a top-eight finish alive.

Barça go into the game on the back of a defeat against Real Sociedad and will be aiming to bounce back strongly with a victory.

However, the team will be without some key players for the clash despite being boosted by Raphinha’s return. Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres are absent due to suspension and injury, respectively.

New signing Joao Cancelo is also missing from the squad, although his absence is not due to physical or disciplinary issues.

Cancelo not registered for Champions League

As reported by journalist Sergi Capdevila, the reason for Cancelo’s absence from the squad list to face Slavia Prague is that he is not registered in the UEFA Champions League.

Cancelo will miss the UCL clash vs Slavia Prague. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Indeed, the 31-year-old right-back, who has signed on a loan deal from Al Hilal until the end of the season, is not officially registered in the European competition for the league phase.

So, he is ineligible to feature against Slavia Prague tomorrow and will also miss next week’s home game against FC Copenhagen.

However, Cancelo will be able to feature normally for Barcelona in the Champions League from the knockout playoff stages onwards.

The Portuguese international returned for a second loan stint at Barça last week and even made his debut this past weekend against Real Sociedad.

Having seen limited game-time during the first half of the season in Saudi Arabia, he will be hoping to build rhythm in the coming weeks and make a valuable contribution for the Blaugrana during his loan stint.