Liverpool take advantage of new Champions League rule as Chiesa in from the cold

Robin Bairner

• 26 Sep 2025 04:40 CDT
• 3 min read

News

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has confirmed that the Reds have taken advantage of a new Champions League ruling in the wake of Giovanni Leoni’s injury.

Leoni has been struck down by an ACL tear that Slots says will see him sidelined for a year.

Consequently, Liverpool will profit from a new UEFA ruling that allows clubs to replace injured players in their Champions League squad who will miss at least 60 days of action.

Current ETV

Giovanni Leoni

D (CR)

Liverpool

Giovanni Leoni

D (CR)

Liverpool

€25.4M

ETV Range

€22.9M - €27.9M

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Leoni will drop out of the Reds’ group and will be replaced by the in-form Federico Chiesa, with the Dutchman confirming the news in a media conference on Friday.

“That’s true,” Slot said, indicating the Italy international attacker will be promoted to the Champions League squad.

Chiesa, who missed Liverpool’s European opener against Atletico Madrid, will therefore be available to feature against Galatasaray on 30 September.

Leoni injury update

The Liverpool manager then underlined how much of a blow this is to Leoni just weeks after arriving in a €31 million deal from Parma.

“The first thing is that Leoni is not in a good place, of course, because he tore his ACL and it means he will be out for a year,” Slot continued.

“Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game... it’s very hard to take the positive side. There's never a positive side - but you always try to look at a positive side and that is that he is still so young, so he has so many years still to go after he recovers from a terrible injury like that.”

Liverpool have been tipped to explore the centre-back market in the January transfer window, with the possibility of rekindling their interest in Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi one that has been touted.

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