Iraola's Bold Choices: Chiesa and Endo Excluded from Liverpool's Champions League Squad

Andoni Iraola has wasted no time showing whose Liverpool this is.

Before a ball is kicked in Europe, the new manager has made two brutally clear calls: Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo will not be part of Liverpool’s 2026-27 Champions League campaign.

The 25-man List A for UEFA was lodged ahead of the opener against Atletico Madrid on September 9. Two established internationals, both under long contracts, will be watching from the stands.

A ruthless reading of the rulebook

This is not a case of oversight. It is calculation.

UEFA rules cap non-locally trained players on List A at 17. Every one of those slots is gold dust. Iraola has chosen to spend them on £123 million signing Bradley Barcola, fellow summer arrival Victor Munoz, and even on injured forward Hugo Ekitike.

Chiesa and Endo do not make the cut.

The decision underlines where they sit in the new hierarchy. Barcola walks straight into the European picture. Munoz, still adapting, is backed to matter now, not later. Ekitike, sidelined, is still considered more central to the project than two fit, seasoned pros.

For Chiesa and Endo, the message is unmistakable.

Carragher’s blunt verdict

Jamie Carragher did not dress it up.

Speaking on The Overlap, the former Liverpool defender delivered a cold assessment of their roles under Iraola.

“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.”

On Endo, Carragher went further, questioning why the club held on to the Japan international this summer.

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

Cult status, though, does not win you a Champions League spot. Not in this Liverpool, not under this manager.

Endo edged out, Chiesa left behind

The numbers back up the feeling that both men have been sliding towards the margins.

Endo’s involvement shrank dramatically last season. Eight Premier League appearances, just one in the Champions League. From trusted stopgap to emergency option.

Chiesa’s story has been more frustrating than fading. His Anfield career has repeatedly stalled under the weight of fitness problems. At 28, he should be in his prime. Instead, he is managing another muscle injury and looking on as others leapfrog him.

The current issue is not thought to be long-term, yet the choices around him speak louder than any medical report. Iraola has registered long-term absentees Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni ahead of a winger who is edging back towards fitness.

That is not a clerical decision. It is a judgement on where Chiesa fits in the medium term.

European nights on hold

Liverpool’s immediate task is domestic: Ipswich Town at Anfield on Friday. After that, the lights dim, the anthem blares, and Atletico Madrid arrive to open a demanding league-phase campaign that also drags Iraola’s side to Inter and Fenerbahce.

Chiesa and Endo will not be part of those nights. Not unless something drastic happens.

Their realistic horizon now lies in domestic cup competitions, where rotation offers minutes and redemption stories if they can seize them. The Champions League, for the moment, is closed off, their ambitions parked unless injuries trigger one of the limited squad alterations allowed later in the campaign.

For Iraola, this is about clarity and control. For Chiesa and Endo, it is about survival in a squad that has already moved on without them.