Vicente del Bosque has named his squad for Spain’s upcoming European qualifier with Ukraine and there was a surprising decision, Azpilicueta wasn’t included. The full-backs chosen ahead of him are Dani Carvajal,  Juanfran, Jordi Alba and Juan Bernat.
Fans are shocked with the decision because Azpilicueta has played so well in recent months and Mourinho has confirmed the only Chelsea player currently injured is Mikel. Azpilicueta has featured in Mourinho’s plans a lot since he re-joined Chelsea, therefore it’s very surprising that he has been dropped.
The reason why he’s been dropped is because Del Bosque feels the other full-backs are currently playing better than him.
Del Bosque:
We are well covered at left-back with Jordi Alba and Bernat — we have enough players there and we preferred not to call him, we rate him very highly, but the same thing also happened at right-back. There are lads who could be called up, but others are blocking their way.
This is surprising because Azpilicueta is one of the best full-backs in the world and pundits such as Gary Neville and Jaime Carragher have both said on Monday Night football he’s the best full-back in the Premier League in terms of defending.
Neville:  ‘Azpilicueta is as near to perfect as possible when it comes to defending; he’s immaculate.’
Azpilicueta has made 10 caps for Spain so far and he will be certainly pushing for a place in the next squad. If he keeps up his current form, and isn’t included in the next Spanish squad it will certainly be another shock.
However the benefit of him not being called up is that he will get a well deserved rest during the international break after the hard work he has put into his performances for Chelsea this season.
Fabregas and Costa are both included in the 24 man-squad.
