The young Xavi Simons is not present in the PSG group to go to Barcelona, unlike Edouard Michut. A choice that can be explained by a UEFA regulatory point.
Present in the group during the last two PSG games and came into play against Stade Malherbe de Caen (1-0), young dutch Xavi Simons is not in the PSG call to travel to Barcelona to face his former club. Unlike his young teammate Edouard Michut. If this may seem surprising, because the player is not injured, you have to look at the side of the UEFA Champions League regulations.
The young player’s registration could be made on the A list before February 2, 2021, however it would have been necessary to eliminate one of the seventeen free players already registered, knowing that PSG decided to do without Juan Bernat. Suffice it to say that he had no chance of appearing on this list Where Paris has already had to make a very strong choice. Simons, 18, could claim a spot on List B, reserved for players trained at the club. An unlimited list for the players in the training center and editable until the day before the games.
But on condition of respecting a specific point of the regulation: “A player may be entered on List B if he was born on or after 1 January 1999 and if, on the date of his registration with UEFA, he was qualified to play for the club in question for an uninterrupted period of time for at least two years from the age of 15. 16-year-old players can register on List B if they have been registered with the participating club for the previous two years without interruption.»
Simons arrived after his 16 years at PSG and therefore fulfills the first condition, but not the second as he is currently doing his second season with the Paris jersey. Therefore, it could only be included in the B list at the end of the season. And UEFA also specifies that “If a club enters a player who is neither on List A nor on List B, or who is not qualified to play for any other reason, they must bear the legal consequences.. »
And we remember the fax episode during the Steaua Bucharest / PSG match in August 1997, where PSG lined up Laurent Fournier, then suspended (3-0 green carpet defeat inflicted by UEFA). This is what explains the absence of Xavi Simons in the Parisian group for the Champions League.