On September 4 Barcelona revealed the list for the Champions League.
Together with all the big-name players, all Asia was surprised to find that Japan national team midfielder Hiroki Abe, who still plays for Barça B.
On the official website, the club announced that in addition to the top team players, three players from Barça B will be called to Europe’s premier competition. Abe will be joined by Spanish midfielder Ferrán Sarsanedas and Uruguay defender Ronald Araújo will be in ‘List A’ for their Champions League campaign. The reason for the registration of the three players is that they all do not meet the age requirements for list B registration.
On List B, players can be registered until midnight the day before the CL match. However, the list allowed to be registered only players who were born on or after January 1, or are younger than 21 years before the start of the qualifications.
Additionally, the players must be a member of the club for at least three years after their 15th birthday. It seems Abe was inserted on list A due to this particular restriction.
Abe will wear Number 37 for the Barcelona first team.