5 European footballers who feature more for their countries than their clubs
The 2020-21 UEFA Nations League marked the return of competitive international football in Europe for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak.
With the major football leagues across the continent only ending last month due to the pandemic, many players haven't had much of an off-season before they returned to international duty.
However, a few of them would be fresher than the others as they didn't feature as frequently for their clubs as they would have hoped to. There are a multitude of reasons for the same like injury, loss of form or being considered surplus to a club's requirements.
On that note, let us take a look at five such big-name European footballers who have recently played more for their countries than for their clubs.
NOTE: This list is in no particular order.
#1 Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered during Bayern Munich's Bundesliga game against Augsburg in October, Niklas Sule spent large swathes of last season on the sidelines.
Prior to rupturing his ligament, the 24-year-old was a regular for both club and country as he played a pair of friendlies either side of five Euro 2020 qualifying games for Germany in 2019.
The centre-back returned from his injury last month and was on Bayern Munich's bench in a few Champions League games before making an appearance as a substitute in the Bavarian's club win over Paris St. Germain in the final.
Sule made his first international start in nearly a year when he played in Germany's 1-1 UEFA Nations League draw with Spain on Thursday.
#2 Julian Draxler (Paris St. Germain/Germany)
Since moving to French champions Paris St. Germain (PSG) in the summer of 2016, Julian Draxler featured prominently for the club for three seasons before seeing his game-time drastically coming down in 2019-20.
It has now been rumoured that Draxler could make a return to the Bundesliga after the winger has become surplus to requirements under compatriot Thomas Tuchel. The German came on as a late substitute in the Champions League final but couldn't make an impact as PSG fell to Bayern Munich.
The 26-year-old played in Germany's Euro 2020 qualifying games against Belarus and Estonia last year and also featured in the 2014 FIFA World Cup champions' 1-1 draw on Thursday against Spain in the UEFA Nations League.