Espanyol head to play a friendly in Ecuador... with just 16 players

Espanyol have headed to Ecuador with 35 people, but only 16 of them are footballers.

For different personal motives, Abraham, Mattioni and Colotto have stayed behind. The latter two are out of contract with the club and will leave. 

Hector and Moreno and Stuani have commitments with Mexico and Uruguay, respectively. 

So Sergio Gonzalez has taken the rest of his players on the trip, including Ruben Duarte and Raillo, from the youth team. 

Espanyol play on Thursday, a friendly against Barcelona - from Guayaquil.

The game kicks off at 7.30pm, Ecuador time. It's a short trip, with everyone returning on Friday, but they will try and do some commercial and social work, as well as straining in Guayaquil's Estadio Monumental.