Barcelona's Champions League Squad Surprises: Abdelkarim and Bisiu Included

Barcelona have locked in their 25-man squad for the Champions League league phase, and the list carries a couple of quietly significant surprises.

Abdelkarim and Bisiu step up

All 25 names submitted to UEFA are players with first-team contracts, but two of them are still living between two worlds. Egyptian defender Hamza Abdelkarim and Belgian youngster Jesse Bisiu, both usually tied to the reserve setup, have been pushed onto List A and formally registered as first-team players for Europe.

They keep their familiar La Liga shirt numbers: Abdelkarim stays with 29, Bisiu with 27. On domestic duty, they are registered as reserve-team players. In Europe, the rules change.

UEFA’s regulations shut the door on a simpler route. To qualify for List B, a player must have spent at least two consecutive years at the club’s academy, or three consecutive years including a loan of no more than one season to another club under the same federation. Abdelkarim and Bisiu do not meet those criteria, so Barcelona had only one option: elevate them to List A and use up two of the 25 slots.

It is a small administrative detail that tells a bigger story. Barcelona clearly see both as part of their immediate European depth, not just long-term projects.

Bardghji’s season written off

One name is missing, and for harsh reasons. Swedish forward Roony Bardghji has been left out of the Champions League squad after suffering a serious knee injury that will keep him out for the entire season.

His absence closes a difficult chapter. Bardghji already struggled for minutes last season, squeezed out on the flank by the rise of Lamine Yamal, who has made that position his own. Any hope of using Europe to relaunch his Barcelona career now disappears until next year at the earliest.

Fariñas walks a different line

Another youngster, Brian Fariñas, sits in a very different category. The midfielder appears on List B as part of the club’s academy contingent, a list that can be updated up to 24 hours before each match.

In La Liga, Fariñas wears the number 4 shirt with the first team. In the Champions League, he will line up as number 28, officially registered among the academy players. Same player, different status, shaped entirely by UEFA’s registration rules.

Barcelona have worked the regulations hard here. Abdelkarim and Bisiu are pushed into the senior European squad to comply with List B criteria. Fariñas, already trusted with a heavyweight number in the league, drops into the academy list to free space on List A.

On paper, it looks like bureaucracy. On the pitch, it could be the difference between a stretched squad and a bench that still has one more game-changing youngster to throw into a Champions League night.