Karim Adeyemi's absence from the latest Germany squad ranked among the biggest surprises, with coach Jürgen Klopp overlooking him for the upcoming international break.
A season to forget at Borussia Dortmund and a shock exclusion from Germany's squad for the 2026 World Cup had left him in the cold. Then came a surprise return in last September's camp, this time in a Barcelona shirt.
The Barcelona winger made the 44-man squad last September, coinciding with the start of the German coach's tenure. This time Klopp left him out of the 24-man group picked to face Serbia on 13 November and the Netherlands on 16 November.
According to the newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", Barcelona have played seven official matches since the last international break, aside from tonight's clash with Atlético: four in La Liga and three in the Champions League.
During that stretch Barça faced their toughest tests so far, with meetings against Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Aston Villa. The German winger's involvement dipped slightly compared with the first eight matches.
Out of a possible 630 minutes, Adeyemi played just 237, 37% of the total. He started against Real Betis, coming off in the 63rd minute, and Alavés in the 90th, but dropped out of the starting line-up for the three European matches against Galatasaray, where he managed 31 minutes as a substitute, Paris Saint-Germain with 30 minutes, and Aston Villa, where he did not play at all.
Against Real Madrid in La Liga, he saw just five minutes.
Before the September international break, the former Borussia Dortmund winger scored three goals and provided three assists across the first eight matches.
In the seven that followed, he scored only once, in the 4-1 win over Galatasaray.
Adeyemi also started tonight's match against Atlético Madrid in La Liga on the bench.
The numbers tell the story. He has yet to make himself an indispensable first choice in Hansi Flick's line-up.
Either way, Klopp's call is a slight setback in his bid to reclaim a place with the Germany national team.