Football fans have had to wait for five years to witness another edition of the European Championship.

The tournament which was slated for last year was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic and will kick off in a matter of hours.

Let's take a look at some top players who will miss out of this major European tournament.

I wll be breaking this into two posts for easy reading. Enjoy.

  1. Sergio Ramos

The Spain and Real Madrid captain was left out of the Spanish team for the 2020 Euros by Luis Enrique.

It is perhaps, one of the biggest decisions to grace the announcement of squads for the tournament as not many people saw it coming.

However, understandably, Ramos missed the better of last season through injury, missing important fixtures, including the fist leg of Real Madrid's semifinal loss to Chelsea. Although he was able to make the second leg, it wasn't enough to see Real Madrid through.

The tough defender has been a very influential part of the Spanish team and will not be a part of the team for a major tournament for the fist time in 2004.

2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The AC Milan forward who has popularized himself as the "god" of football will be missing out on the Euros.

📸: outlookindia.com

The giant forward initially retired from the national team in 2016, but made a surprise comeback in the spring of 2021.

However, several injuries to the talisman saw him miss the season runoff as AC Milan sealed their place in the champions league for next season.

3. Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland

The two Norwegian stars who have had an impressive season will be missing out on the Euros.

Norway finished third in their group and had to settle for the knockout qualifying round but lost out 2-1 to Serbia.

Haaland was influential for Dortmund as they claimed the DFB Pokal, scoring 41 goals in 41 games across all competitions.

Odegaard on his part was on loan to Arsenal from Real Madrid for the second half of the season and established himself a stronghold in Mikel Arteta's side.

It was initially thought that Arsenal may move to make his deal permanent, but the return of Carlo Ancelotti to the Spanish capital may have seen things change as he is a big fan of the Norwegian.

4. Virgil van Dijk

The Liverpool defender will not be featuring for the *Le Oranje* at the tournament.

📸: goal.com

The former Southampton defender made the decision to skip the Euros in order to further complete his rehabilitation and return to full fitness ahead of next season, after recovering from an injury.

Van Dijk ruptured the achilles in his right ankle in a derby game with Everton, following a clash with English goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford.

5. Miralem Pjanic

The Barcelona midfielder will be among the stars to miss out of action in the Euros.

📸: fcbarcelona.com

Bosnia and Herzegovina finished fourth in their group, behind Italy, Finland and Greece, before eventually losing out to Northern Ireland in the knockout stage.

Pjanic completed a dream move to the Blaugrana from Juventus last summer but has been in and out of Ronald Koeman's team.