Headline members of the first-team squads at both Real Madrid and Barcelona were omitted from the Uruguayan national team squad for the country’s latest outing on Saturday night.
La Celeste are currently locked in action, in a friendly meeting with the Basque Country.
Marcelo Bielsa’s squad have made the trip to San Mamés, for the first of two fixtures over the course of the coming days.
Ahead of a more high-profile clash with the Ivory Coast on Tuesday, boss Bielsa has opted to leave the majority of Uruguay’s star performers – including the likes of Rodrigo Bentancur, Manuel Ugarte and Nahitan Nandez – on the bench in Bilbao.
Entirely absent from the South Americans’ matchday squad, meanwhile, are both Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo, and Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde.
Fans of Spanish football’s two biggest clubs, though, need not fret.
As much comes with Araújo and Valverde, the former of whom last night admitted to being fatigued on the back of his recent exploits with Barcelona, understood to have been afforded some much-needed rest.
Conor Laird | GSFN
