Dani Olmo bizarrely included in Barcelona travelling squad for Supercopa clash with Athletic Club despite being ineligible after registration debacle

Pau Victor has also been named in the travelling party heading to Saudi Arabia despite finding himself in a similar situation to Euro 2024 winner Olmo. Both men had to sit out Barca’s Copa del Rey win over Barbastro as they do not possess the relevant paperwork required to line up in Hansi Flick’s team.

Barca remain hopeful that the unfortunate episode can be resolved in a matter of days, as they plan to take an appeal against La Liga’s registration ruling to court. If a green light is given, then Olmo and Victor will be cleared to play once more.

It remains to be seen whether clearance is received in time to face Athletic Club on Wednesday. A big decision also needs to be made on Lamine Yamal’s involvement in that contest, with the teenage wonderkid another of those to have been included in Flick’s plans.

Yamal has not figured for Barca since picking up an injury against Leganes on December 15. He is, however, in the trophy hunt for 2025 and will be hoping to help line up a Supercopa final showdown with either Clasico rivals Real Madrid or in-form Real Mallorca.

Andreas Christensen, Hector Fort and Ferran Torres are other injury victims to have been handed seats on the plane to the Middle East, while Marc Bernal has asked to be involved as he continues his recovery from knee ligament damage.