Iraola's Brutal Decision: Chiesa and Endo Excluded from Liverpool's Champions League Squad

Andoni Iraola has wasted no time showing where the fault lines lie in his new Liverpool squad. Before a ball is kicked in Europe, two big names have already been pushed to the margins.

Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo have both been left out of Liverpool’s 25-man Champions League List A for the 2026-27 campaign, a ruthless early decision from the Spaniard ahead of the opener against Atletico Madrid at Anfield on September 9.

This isn’t a clerical oversight. It’s a statement.

UEFA rules bite – and Chiesa and Endo pay the price

UEFA regulations cap non-locally trained players on List A at 17. Every one of those slots is gold dust. Iraola has chosen to spend them elsewhere.

Record signing Bradley Barcola, a £123 million arrival, goes straight in. So does fellow summer recruit Victor Munoz. Even Hugo Ekitike, currently injured, has been registered. Chiesa and Endo, both full internationals, have been squeezed out.

The message is clear: when Iraola imagines his European Liverpool, those two are on the outside looking in.

Carragher’s blunt verdict

Jamie Carragher didn’t dress it up. Speaking on The Overlap, the former Liverpool defender cut straight through the sentiment.

“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.”

He then zeroed in on Endo’s situation, questioning why the midfielder is still at the club.

“Endo should have been moved on,” Carragher added. “He has done great, a bit of a cult hero.”

Cult status, though, doesn’t earn you a Champions League squad place. Not under this manager.

Shrinking roles and fading influence

The numbers back up the sense of drift. Endo, once a useful stopgap, saw his league involvement collapse last season. He made just eight Premier League appearances and featured only once in the Champions League. For a senior midfielder under contract until 2027, that is a brutal comedown.

Chiesa’s story has been even more frustrating. The talent is there, but his Anfield stay has been shredded by injuries. At 28, he should be in his prime. Instead, he is again sidelined with a muscle issue, hovering on the edge of the squad rather than driving it.

This latest setback is not thought to be long-term, yet Iraola’s choices tell their own story. Long-term absentees Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni have both been registered ahead of a winger who is edging back towards fitness. That is not bad luck. That is hierarchy.

Domestic scraps and distant European dreams

Liverpool’s immediate focus is split. Ipswich Town visit Anfield on Friday in the league, a domestic hurdle to clear before the European glare returns with Atletico’s arrival and a demanding league-phase schedule that includes trips to Inter and Fenerbahce.

Those nights, for now, will belong to others.

For Chiesa and Endo, the horizon looks very different. Their season is suddenly framed by the domestic cups and whatever Premier League minutes they can claw back. Unless an injury crisis forces Liverpool into one of the limited permitted changes to their European squad later in the campaign, the Champions League will play out without them.

Iraola has drawn his first hard line in the sand. The question now is whether Chiesa and Endo can fight their way back over it, or whether this is the beginning of the end for their Liverpool stories.