Iraola Axes Chiesa and Endo from Champions League Squad
Andoni Iraola has wasted no time showing whose Liverpool this is.
Before a ball is kicked in Europe, the new Reds manager has made two of the biggest calls of his early reign, cutting Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo from his 2026-27 Champions League squad.
Liverpool submitted their 25-man List A ahead of their opener against Atletico Madrid on September 9. When the names dropped, two established internationals were nowhere to be seen.
Numbers game with a ruthless edge
UEFA’s rules are unforgiving. Only 17 non-locally trained players are allowed on List A. Every one of those slots matters. Iraola treated them that way.
He handed places to £123 million signing Bradley Barcola, fellow summer recruit Victor Munoz and even injured forward Hugo Ekitike. Chiesa and Endo, both fit enough to be considered senior options for the season, were squeezed out.
This wasn’t an administrative quirk. It was a statement.
Carragher: “They’re never going to kick a ball”
Jamie Carragher didn’t bother sugar-coating it.
Speaking on The Overlap, the former Liverpool defender delivered a cold verdict on where the pair now sit in the Anfield hierarchy and how they fit into Iraola’s plans.
“Liverpool have got two players in the squad who are never going to play,” he said. “And there are all these quotas, you can only have 17 players and all that. They have got Chiesa and Endo. It’s like they are never going to kick a ball.”
Carragher then turned the spotlight directly on the club’s decision to keep Endo this summer.
“Endo should have been moved on,” he added. “He has done great, a bit of a cult hero.”
Cult status, though, doesn’t win you a Champions League place under a new manager with a clear tactical blueprint.
Endo and Chiesa pushed to the fringes
The numbers behind the feeling tell their own story.
Endo’s role shrank dramatically last season. The Japan international managed just eight Premier League appearances and only one Champions League outing, a steep drop for a player still under contract until 2027.
Chiesa’s Liverpool career has barely had a chance to breathe. The 28-year-old has been repeatedly undermined by injuries, and he is again sidelined with a muscle problem. This time it is not considered long-term, but that hasn’t helped his case.
Iraola chose to register long-term absentees Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni instead of a Chiesa edging back towards fitness. That decision cuts through any ambiguity: in the manager’s eyes, the Italian is a peripheral figure.
For a forward once signed to be a difference-maker on big European nights, the symbolism is brutal.
Europe moves on without them
Liverpool’s focus, for now, is split.
They face Ipswich Town in the league on Friday, then turn fully towards Europe and a heavyweight Anfield clash with Atletico Madrid to open a demanding league-phase campaign that also includes daunting away trips to Inter and Fenerbahce.
Iraola will attack that schedule without Chiesa and Endo at his disposal in Europe. Their reality is stark: no Champions League football unless injuries trigger one of the limited changes UEFA permits later in the campaign.
Until then, their stage shrinks to domestic cups and whatever league minutes they can claw back.
For two players of their pedigree, the question now is simple and unforgiving: are they part of Liverpool’s future under Iraola, or just expensive passengers waiting for the next transfer window to arrive?
