David Alaba will not feature on the pitch for his Austria at Euro 2024 this summer.
The Real Madrid star who is also Austria’s captain and star man was not named in Ralf Rangnick’s 26-man squad.
The 31-year-old centre-back will be a huge miss for the Austrians as they have arguably been dealt the toughest group at the tournament which includes France, the Netherlands and Poland.
That being said Alaba will travel alongside the squad throughout their Euro campaign as he been appointed a unique role by head coach Rangnick.
Here is why Alaba won’t feature for Austria at Euro 2024 and what role he will play within the squad instead.
Why David Alaba isn’t playing for Austria at Euro 2024?
The Real Madrid star has been ruled out of the entire championships due to a devastating knee injury which has kept him sidelined since December 17.
The Austrian was forced off early in the game of Madrid’s 4-1 win against Villareal at the Bernabeu.
After tests were carried out, it was revealed by the Spanish outfit that the defender tore his anterior cruciate ligament and would be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Despite being named in Los Blancos Champions League match-day squad, Alaba was not expected to and played no part in their victory over Borussia Dortmund.
The centre-back is still not fully fit and instead of rushing his recovery and risking further damage, Austrian manager Ralf Rangnick decided against including him in his Euro squad.
Instead the former Manchester United and RB Leipzig boss has opted to bring Alaba along in a different role for Euro 2024.
What unique role has David Alaba been given for Euro 2024?
It has been revealed that Alaba who is Austria’s second most capped player in the nations history will be a ‘non-playing captain’.
Meaning he will travel with the squad for the duration of the Euro 2024 run.
Speaking about Alaba’s new role and decision to leave him out of the match-day squad, Rangnick said:
‘It is a great shame of course that he isn’t available to us as a player.
‘Over the last weeks I’ve have had close exchanges with David. He stressed he wanted very much to still be with us.
‘Therefore, I am very happy to say this [non-playing role] will be possible after a good discussion with his club Real Madrid.’
