Liverpool hit with Champions League restriction

Liverpool manager Arne Slot — Arne Slot has a Champions League issue his squyad must overcome (Image credit: Getty Images)

Liverpool will be keeping a close eye on this week’s Champions League play-off second legs as they get ready to find out who they will be facing in the last 16 next month.

With Arne Slot’s side in a battle for a top-four spot in the Premier League, winning the Champions League may end up being the only route back into the competition next season, placing an extra layer of importance in their upcoming knockout tie.

Liverpool hit with Champions League red tape blow

Slot saw Wataru Endo taken off on a stretcher during his side’s 1-0 victory over Sunderland earlier this month, with the Japan international having spent the match deputising at right-back. This came after the 33-year-old had attempted to play on, only to fall back to the floor in agony.

"I assume he will be out for a long, long time,” Slot said following the match, “What is long, it is difficult to say at this moment but you can hardly believe what this right full-back position brings us this season."

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 20: Alexander Isak of Liverpool is assisted off the pitch by medical staff after going down injured during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 20, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images) — Alexander Isak is also sidelined (Image credit: Getty Images)

With Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong both sidelined, Slot certainly is feeling the pinch at right-back and as well as having to make do without the versatile Endo for the foreseeable future, a specific UEFA rule means that Liverpool will not be able to replace him in their Champions League squad.

Rule 31.14.c dictates that only one outfield player can be replaced if they are hit by long-term injury or illness and only applies to the first six games of the league phase, which ended back in December.

Liverpool’s last-16 tie will be played next month and Slot is only permitted to add to his European squad with players on the B list, which means no senior player can be brought in.

Earlier in the season Liverpool were allowed to replace Giovanni Leoni with Federico Chiesa after the former suffered a season-ending ACL injury, but with Endo’s injury coming after Liverpool submitted their squad for the knockout phase, nothing can be done.

Calvin Ramsay would be an option to replace Endo, but due to the rules on locally trained players, this is a non-starter.

Wataru Endo of Liverpool reacts during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and AFC Bournemouth at Anfield on August 19, 2023 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images) — Wataru Endo is set to miss the majority of the remainder of the season (Image credit: Getty Images)

This leaves Slot with just 19 senior players available for the remainder of Liverpool’s European campaign, with the likes of Endo, Bradley and Alexander Isak in the squad, despite being sidelined with long-term problems.

There is hope that Isak could be back for the quarter-finals which take place between April 7 and 15, should Liverpool make it that far.

The draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will take place on Friday, February 27, with their next opponents one of Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray or Juventus.

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For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

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