Can and Mandzukic left out of Juventus Champions League squad

Posted Wednesday, September 04, 2019 by Goal.com

The Croatian and German internationals were the notable absentees from Maurizio Sarri's list for European competition

Juventus have left striker Mario Mandzukic and midfielder Emre Can out of their squad for the Champions League.

Mandzukic and Can have paid the price for the club's failure to trim their squad down this summer, with new boss Maurizio Sarri having to select a squad of 22 from a pool of 26 first-team players.

Captain Giorgio Chiellini is also left out of the squad, though his absence was expected after the 35-year-old was ruled out for six months after undergoing surgery on an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Summer signings Matthijs de Ligt, Danilo, Merih Demiral, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey and Gianluigi Buffon are included, as is Gonzalo Higuain following his return to the side after loan spells at Milan and Chelsea last season.

Paulo Dybala is also in the squad after his proposed move away from the Serie A champions never materialised over the summer.

The Argentine was reportedly in discussions with Tottenham and Manchester United but an agreement could not be reached.

Sarri hinted last month that Dybala was one of up to six players he was hoping to sell before the transfer deadline in order to trim his squad.

"I can talk with him but the market goes in a certain direction and what I say counts for zero," Sarri said. "Six players must be cut [and could also be sold] depending on the market.

"I would like to keep all of them but our problem is that we do not have players who have grown up within the club - we have only one. So our squad for the Champions League must be 22 players with three goalkeepers and this puts us in difficulty because the market dictates we may have to make choices that we don't like."

Juventus have been placed in a tough Group D alongside Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow as they attempt to lift the trophy for a third time.

They begin their European campaign against Atletico at the Wanda Metropolitano on September 18.

Juventus Champions League squad: Wojciech Szczesny, Mattia De Sciglio, Matthijs de Ligt, Miralem Pjanic, Sami Khedira, Cristiano Ronaldo, Aaron Ramsey, Paulo Dybala, Douglas Costa, Alex Sandro, Danilo, Blaise Matuidi, Juan Cuadrado, Leonardo Bonucci, Gonzalo Higuain, Daniele Rugani, Merih Demiral, Adrien Rabiot, Rodrigo Bentancur, Carlo Pinsoglio, Federico Bernardeschi, Gianluigi Buffon.