Final All Stars squad for Barca showdown announced

And then there were 21. The A-Leagues All Stars squad has been revised and confirmed for this week’s blockbuster game against LaLiga giants Barcelona.

Manchester United great Dwight Yorke will lead the All Stars in Wednesday’s clash with Barca at Accor Stadium in Sydney.

BUY TICKETS TO THE ALL STARS-BARCA CLASH HERE!

The squad is locked in for the midweek showdown and there are changes from the 30-player list, most notably due to Saturday’s Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final between Melbourne City and Western United.

Adelaide United defender Alexandar Popovic, Macarthur FC centre-back Adrian Mariappa and Olivier Boumal of Newcastle Jets have been drafted in to take on Barca.

Buzzing over our A-Leagues All Stars kit 🔥

Get your jersey from @ultrafootballau 🎁: https://t.co/welMOLc0b3

All Stars v Barca, 25th May 🎟️: https://t.co/bYxqOJAhZk pic.twitter.com/r84H4tND7j
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 23, 2022

City quartet Mathew Leckie, Jamie Maclaren, Marco Tilio and Curtis Good have dropped out, as well as Western’s Jamie Young, Ben Garuccio and Leo Lacroix – all Grand Final participants were never going to be replaced.

Injuries have forced Adelaide United captain Craig Goodwin and Melbourne Victory pair Jake Brimmer and Roderick Miranda to withdraw, while Newcastle Jets forward Beka Mikeltadze is out of the squad due to personal reasons.

“He is a rare player we (don’t) have in Australia at the moment,” Adelaide head coach Carl Veart said of 19-year-old centre-back Popovic.

“Because he knows how to defend and he can actually defend, which is rare in Australia.

“He is young, 10 games this year, he just needs to get his body right ….”

ALL STARS SQUAD

Next week, @FCBarcelona touch down in Sydney for their clash at @AccorStadium against the A-Leagues All Stars.@auba chatted Arsenal, Barca, his Aussie mates & more with @davutovic in Spain ahead of their departure. #barcainsydney
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 20, 2022