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I have this sentence in a practise JLPT question:

> サッカー選手{せんしゅ}がずらっと並{なら}んでいる。

According to the dictionary I referenced, `ずらっと` [means to "be in a
line"](http://www.jisho.org/words?jap=%E3%81%9A%E3%82%89%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A8&eng=&dict=edict),
and `並{なら}ぶ` [means "to line
up"](http://www.jisho.org/words?jap=%E4%B8%A6%E3%81%B6&eng=&dict=edict), so
wouldn't that make the sentence above redundant? Something like, "The soccer
players lined up in a line"?

What does this sentence convey that is different from
`サッカー選手{せんしゅ}が並{なら}んでいる`? What is the nuance I'm missing?

If `ずらっと` or `並{なら}ぶ` mean something other than the dictionary defition linked
above, then what is that meaning?
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word-choice meaning
Isn't ずらっと並んでいる redundant?
In line with the comment, take a look at the goo dict entry:

<http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/120311/m1u/%E3%81%9A%E3%82%89%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A8/>

> ［副］人や物がたくさん並び連なっているさま。ずらり。「著名人が―名を連ねる」

While dictionaries can often be overly prescriptive and precise, it seems to
me that the adverb here is _more specific_ than the verb, thus giving a
specific quality. It can also, as in the example, be used with 連なる. So there
is a separate job for each of these verbs and adverbs, and they have their own
content to contribute.
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`ずらっと` indicates the speaker is impressed at how abundant and neat the line
is. So it has to be an impressive number of things, and the line has to be
neat.

For example, this is definitely ずらっと:

![neat impressive line](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Kx2V.jpg)

Whereas this is border line because it's not that impressive number of
players:

![just a team](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QagGI.jpg)

This is 並んでいる but clearly not ずらっと as there are only two people:

![only two](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UOszh.jpg)

This can be said to be 並んでいる, but clearly not ずらっと because the line is not
neat: ![in a bunch](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WA1Gn.jpg)

**EDIT** :  
並ぶ means there is some parallelism and can be used quite liberally. For
example in horse racing, one might shout 「並んだ！」when more than two horses
overlap in the course (e.g. see
[this](http://race.sanspo.com/keiba/images/20140112/ope14011215460004-p1.jpg)).

You can't use 並ぶ when it's a completely unorganized cluster, but if there is
even a vaguely recognizable structure of lines (which can be multiple
columns), it can be used.
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