UEFA make major rule change just a week before Champions League returns

The opening games are just days away

The contest to win Eurpean football's most sought-after trophy takes flight next week and will see Chelsea take on 30-time Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich before Newcastle host FC Barcelona.

Right across the pyramid of European competitions, there are more English clubs vying for victory than ever before.

While Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are competing in the Europa League and Crystal Palace in the Conference League, there are an incredible six other English clubs in this season's Champions League opening phase.

Liverpool, Arsenal. Man City, Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs will are all playing Champions League football this season and so will be affected by the new change to rules.

The new update relates to UEFA's strict 25-man squad rules, whereby clubs must name just 25 players to call on during a Champions League campaign.

When European clubs announced their squads last week, Liverpool fans were shocked to see that Italian winger Federico Chiesa had not made Arne Slot's final squad.

Many had feared that Chiesa's opportunities to get regular playtime ahead of the World Cup would be significantly cutback by his exclusion form the squad, but the former Fiorentina man may now have been handed a lifeline by UEFA's decision.

UEFA announced: "The Executive Committee approved an amendment to the 2025/26 UEFA men’s club competitions’ regulations to admit the temporary replacement of a maximum of one outfield player with long-term injury or illness during the league phase until matchday 6 included.

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"The reasoning for the adaptation is to ensure that squad lists are not unfairly reduced and players are safeguarded from additional workload pressure."

The announcement makes clear that if a player suffers a serious injury during the first six fixtures of the competition, they can be replaced in the squad.

This ultimately means that the those 25-man squads are not final.

When Chelsea announced their squad for the competition, they opted to include new signing Liam Delap at the expense of other new addition Facundo Buononotte.

Delap has since been ruled out until Christmas with a hamstring injury which should, under the new rules, pave the way for Buononotte to take his place.