Which Barcelona players will shine brightest at Euro 2024

Photo by Rafa Babot/Getty Images

The club is well represented

Euro 2024 is set to kick off on Friday when hosts Germany take on Scotland at Bayern Munich’s famous Allianz Area.

There will be a host of Barcelona players involved in the tournament and all will be hoping to taste glory in this summer’s eagerly-awaited competition.

Here’s a look at which players are going and who may be coming home with the trophy.

The Hosts - Germany

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Germany have some making up to do after enduring a pretty torid time in major tournaments in recent years and will be hoping home advantage can help out Julian Nagelsmann and Co.

Barcelona midfielder Ilkay Gundogan will captain the side in what could potentially be his final major international tournament. Marc-Andre ter Stegen is also in the squad but looks set to spend the next few weeks watching from the bench. A role he’s openly admitted he is not at at happy about.

Germany have bags of talent and a relatively kind group, on paper at least, with Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland up first in the group stages. There’s also a feelgood factor about German football right now after Bayer Levekusen’s stunning season and Dortmund run to the Champions League final.

Die Mannschaft will be expected to make it through the group at the very least but then will come the real test, particularly as they haven’t won a knockout game in a major tournament since Euro 2016.

The Favorites

Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images

France head into the tournament as favourites as Didier Deschamps has a squad packed full of top quality talent including Barcelona defender Jules Kounde.

All eyes will be on Kylian Mbappe once again to provide the goals, as France look to go one better than last time when they were beaten in the final of the World Cup by Argentina on penalties.

France take on Austria, the Netherlands and Poland in the group stages and will be expected to claim top spot. In fact anything other than a place in the final will probably be seen as failure for this outstanding group of players.

Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images

Portugal are another nation with a brilliant squad which ensures they must also be seen as one of the favourites. It remains to be seen if Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix will be at Barcelona next season, but for now at least we will count them as Blaugrana still.

Roberto Martinez’s side cruised through qualifying with 10 straight wins and the only problem might be how to find the right balance in a squad that features the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Rafa Leao, Diogo Jota, Felix, Goncalo Ramos and impressive young talents such as Joao Neves and Sergio Conceicao.

Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images

Spain will also take their place in the shortlist of favourites and have a host of Barcelona players in their ranks. Pau Cubarsi has missed out this time, but Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez and Pedri will all feature.

Fans will be excited to see Lamine and Fermin in action. Both have endured excellent seasons with Barcelona and could well light up the tournament. Pedri may just have a point to prove too after a difficult season that’s been interrupted by injury again.

Obviously the absence of Gavi due to injury will be huge for Spain, while the lack of a reliable goalscorer may prove to be an issue for Luis de la Fuente’s side.

Spain will certainly need to hit the ground running in Germany after being placed in a tricky group. They face Euro 2020 winners Italy, Croatia and Albania in what looks to be the tournament’s dreaded Group of Death.

The Outsiders

Photo by Lukas Schulze - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

Former Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman will lead the Netherlands at Euro 2024, with Frenkie de Jong battling to be fit in time for the start of the tournament after a serious ankle injury.

De Jong has come in for criticism ahead of the tournament by Dutch legend Ruud Gullit but will still be expected to play a key role for the Oranje if fit. The Netherlands are in the same group as France, which should prove interesting, and also play Poland and Austria.

They will be expected to make it through to the latter stages but may not have quite enough to go all the way to the final in Berlin.

Dark Horses

Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Denmark will be hoping to spring a few surprises at Euro 2024, with Andreas Christensen set to feature for Kasper Hjulmand’s side. The Danes reached the semi-finals back in 2020 and will expect to make it out of the group.

There a lot of talent and experience in this group too. Simon Kjær, Christian Eriken, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Jonas Wind and Rasmus Højlund should all feature, fitness permitting, and the underdog tag will suit this team.

And The Rest

Photo by Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The final Barcelona player heading to Euro 2024 is Robert Lewandowski but little is expected from his Poland team. Poland came through a play-off to make the tournament but now come up against the Netherlands, Austria and France.

Lewandowski says he’s heading back to Germany, where he enjoyed such success with Bayern, “with a positive attitude and with a smile on my face and also with such appreciation of where I am not just in life, also in my career.”

Yet it’s difficult to see Poland getting out of the group. If they do miss out, it does at least mean Lewandowski will get some rest before returning to Barcelona and linking up with Hansi Flick once more.

Which Barcelona player do you think will go further at Euro 2024? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Source: barcablaugranes.com