Barcelona’s activity in the January transfer window was minimal, with the club only completing one task – the loan signing of Joao Cancelo, who arrived from Saudi Arabia.

The experienced full-back has already performed well in domestic competitions, but his situation in Europe is very different.

Although Cancelo can play in La Liga, he cannot play for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.

The reason is purely regulatory and related to UEFA’s strict team registration deadlines.

Why can’t Cancelo play?

Champions League rules allow clubs to register up to three new players for the knockout stages.

However, these registrations must be completed by midnight on February 5th.

The deadline is set immediately after the end of the league season and the close of the winter transfer window on Monday, February 2nd.

Once this window closes, clubs will have a short period of time to finalize their European squad.

Teams may submit an updated list as long as there are no more than 25 players on List A. Barcelona currently have 21 players on their roster, which puts them comfortably within that limit.

Therefore, Andreas Christensen’s long-term injury has given the club further flexibility in terms of team balance.

In addition to List A, UEFA allows clubs to register up to eight players in List B.

In particular, this list is usually reserved for young players developed at the club. However, Cancelo does not qualify for List B. So that route won’t solve his situation.

As a result, Barcelona were unable to get Cancelo back in time for European competition, and they were therefore ineligible for the group stage of the Champions League.