Chiesa's Liverpool Career Unravels Again as Champions League Snub Repeats Under a Second Manager

Liverpool have left Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo out of their 25-man squad for the league phase of the Champions League, confirming that a 21-year-old academy graduate now sits above a full international in Andoni Iraola's midfield pecking order, according to BBC Sport.

The decision lands just days before Liverpool open their European campaign at home to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, 9 September. It hands James McConnell the squad spot vacated by Endo, while three players still working their way back from long-term injury, Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike, have all been included instead of the fit Japan international, a picture corroborated by ESPN FC.

The squad decision: who's in, who's out, and why it matters

On paper this looks like a routine administrative update. In practice, it is a statement of intent from Iraola about where trust currently lies inside his squad, just two competitive league games into his tenure at Anfield.

A squad list that favours potential over precedent

Liverpool's list omits an experienced World Cup winner in Chiesa and a Japan international regular in Endo, while promoting a 21-year-old who has yet to establish himself as a first-team fixture. It also protects places for three players who are not currently available for selection at all.

• Out: Federico Chiesa (Italy forward, 28), Wataru Endo (Japan midfielder, 33)
• In instead of Endo: James McConnell (21, academy graduate)
• Also included despite injury: Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike

The UEFA rules behind the numbers

Clubs are permitted to name up to 25 players on Champions League List A, with a minimum of eight places reserved for homegrown or 'locally trained' players, and can supplement that with an unlimited List B of eligible young players under UEFA's squad rules. That structure means McConnell's promotion is not necessarily a like-for-like swap for Endo. It reflects broader roster planning around homegrown quotas as much as a straight head-to-head judgement between the two midfielders.

Chiesa's Liverpool exile: a pattern, not a one-off

What makes Chiesa's omission significant is that it is not a new experience. This is the second consecutive season he has been frozen out of Liverpool's Champions League plans, and the fact it has happened under two different managers changes the story entirely.

Left out under Slot, restored only by misfortune

Chiesa, who joined from Juventus in August 2024, was also initially excluded from last season's Champions League squad under previous boss Arne Slot. He was only added to the list after Leoni suffered a long-term knee injury in September, opening up a vacancy Chiesa filled by circumstance rather than form BBC Sport notes.

A second manager, the same conclusion

Liverpool have since changed manager, with Iraola replacing Slot over the summer. That a second head coach, working from a fresh assessment of the squad, has arrived at the identical decision suggests this is not about tactical preference or man-management style. It points instead to a player who simply has not forced his way into first-team plans, regardless of who picks the team.

Chiesa, 28, is currently out injured himself but expected to return to training during the international break later this month BBC Sport reports. Even accounting for that fitness issue, the wider pattern, two seasons, two managers, one omission each time, raises legitimate questions about whether his move from Juventus has delivered on its promise.

McConnell's rise and Endo's fading role

While Chiesa's story is one of stalled integration, McConnell's inclusion tells a very different tale of a club backing its own pipeline.

From academy prospect to Champions League squad member

McConnell's promotion into the 25-man list ahead of an established international is a notable marker of faith from Iraola in a homegrown talent still only 21 years old. It is the clearest signal yet that Liverpool's midfield hierarchy is shifting toward younger options as the club looks beyond its current senior options.

Endo's stalled campaign

Endo's omission is arguably the more surprising of the two exclusions given his fitness. The 33-year-old has been an unused substitute in both of Liverpool's Premier League games so far this season, and his absence from the European squad compounds a campaign in which he has struggled to force his way into Iraola's matchday plans domestically as ESPN FC also reports. Both outlets agree on the core facts of the squad announcement, with no material discrepancy between the BBC and ESPN accounts of who is in and who is out.

The injured contingent: why Leoni, Bradley and Ekitike still made the cut

Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising element of Liverpool's list is the decision to include three players who cannot currently play at all, ahead of a fit senior international.

Timelines for return

Speaking in his press conference before Liverpool's Premier League fixture against Ipswich Town on Friday, Iraola said Leoni could return to training during the September international break, though Bradley and Ekitike remain further away from first-team comebacks.

Iraola indicated Leoni could be back in training during the international break, while Bradley and Ekitike were described as further away from a return, according to his pre-match remarks reported by BBC Sport.

Including all three despite those uncertain timelines shows Liverpool are planning for the medium term of the league phase rather than just the opening fixtures. It also underlines that the club sees more long-term value in this trio, once fit, than in either Chiesa or Endo right now.

What happens next

Liverpool's Champions League campaign begins in earnest on Wednesday when Atletico Madrid visit Anfield at 20:00 BST, and neither Chiesa nor Endo will be involved in Europe regardless of their domestic fitness in the weeks ahead. For Chiesa specifically, the September international break represents a potential turning point: he is expected back in training around that time, but a return to the group does not guarantee a route back into Iraola's plans given the pattern established over the past twelve months.

For Endo, the picture looks bleaker. An unused substitute domestically and now absent from Europe entirely, his position in the squad hierarchy appears to be eroding just as McConnell's rises. Watch how Iraola uses the winter transfer window and January reassessment period, since UEFA rules allow for squad list changes, as the next real opportunity for either player to force a reversal.

The more pressing subplot for Liverpool, though, is how quickly Leoni, Bradley and Ekitike can return to fitness. Their inclusion in the Champions League squad only pays off if they are contributing minutes by the winter run-in, and Iraola's comments suggest that is still some way off for at least two of the three.