Barcelona will not be able to register all four of their new players to qualify for the Europa League.
Blaugrana brought in Ferran Torres of Manchester City, Dani Alves of Sao Paulo after the termination of his contract, Adam Traore on loan for the first time from Wolves, and recently confirmed the free transfer of Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the end of a busy transfer. window.
While these four players will be able to help Barça in their quest to finish in the top four in La Liga, at least one will miss their upcoming Europa League campaign.
UEFA rules that national clubs can only add three times to their squad to complete European competitions.
Barcelona dropped to the Europa League for the first time since being relegated to the UEFA Cup after finishing third in their Champions League group stage, finishing behind Bayern Munich and Benfica.
Xavi’s boys were drawn against Napoli in the first round of the playoffs between Diego Maradona’s two teams. The first leg will be at the Camp Nou on February 17 ahead of a rematch match a week later.
The winners of the Europa League have been given a place in the Champions League next season, which has given Barcelona another way to return to Europe’s top club competition.
The Blaugrana currently sit fifth in La Liga, although they are one point behind Atletico Madrid in fourth place.
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