English Premier League side Chelsea Football Club have made a late change to their Champions League squad for the league phase of the competition ahead of their opening match against Bayern Munich.

The club travelled to Germany to face the Bundesliga side on Wednesday evening, as an injury blow hit Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca ahead of the clash, with Cole Palmer, Estevao Willian, Romero Lavia and Benoit Badiashile all training at Cobham on Wednesday, Football London reported.

Liam Delap and Dario Essugo are the long-term absentees during the club’s match fixtures, and the club have now replaced Essugo with Facundo Buonanotte for the league phase.

Essugo was earlier this month named in the Blues’ A-List earlier this month, but after picking up a thigh injury during the most recent international break, the midfielder has now been replaced by Buonanotte.

In line with the UEFA Champions League rules, Chelsea is allowed to replace one injured outfield player after the September 2 deadline.

The UEFA Champions League rules permit football clubs to make key squad changes if registered players in the tournament pick up a long-term injury or illness before match day six, stating that any replacement fielded by the club must be duly registered with the club.

Section 31.14 of the UEFA articles states, “Exceptionally, a replacement after the deadlines set in the present regulations is permitted in the following cases and under the following conditions.

“Long-term injury or illness of an outfield player: during the league phase until matchday 6 included, the club concerned may temporarily replace a maximum of one outfield player and register a new outfield player. The club must complete the official registration of List A with the replacement player, who must have been registered with the club in accordance with Paragraph 30.01 to Paragraph 30.06 before the deadline for List A referred to in Paragraph 31.09(e) (i.e. 2 September 2025 – 24:00 CET).

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“An injury or illness of an outfield player is considered long-term if it lasts at least 60 days as of the day the injury or illness occurred. If the outfield player recovers before the end of these 60 days, the player remains nonetheless not eligible to participate in any UEFA club competition (i.e. UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League) until the end of such period. If the replaced outfield player was registered as a club-trained player or an association-trained player, the quotas for club-trained players or association-trained players must be fulfilled with the replacement.

“The club must provide UEFA with the necessary medical evidence in one of UEFA’s official languages. Before confirming the replacement, UEFA may require further medical examination of the outfield player by an expert appointed by UEFA at the club’s expense. Once the injured or ill outfield player is fit to be fielded again, he becomes eligible and/or can resume his position in place of his substitute, who must consequently be removed from the list. The return of the original outfield player must be announced to the UEFA administration at least 24 hours before the next match in which the original outfield player is due to play.”

Buonanotte trained with the Chelsea squad on Tuesday and is set to be among the squad travelling to Germany for the UCL clash against Bayern Munich.

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder joined the west Londoners on loan from Brighton on deadline day and made his debut for the Blues in the 2-2 draw with Brentford on Saturday.

TVC previously reported that with the UEFA Champions League group stage matches set to begin on Tuesday, football fans across the globe are anticipating the 2025/2026 tournament’s showdowns to see which of their preferred teams will qualify for the knockout stage.

A survey by TVC into the past champions of the tournament who failed in their various leagues to qualify for one of the most-watched tournaments in the world.

AC Milan, a seven-time winner of the Champions League, is the most notable club to miss the 2025/26 competition, having fallen short of the top-four qualification criteria in its domestic league, Serie A.

https://www.tvcnews.tv/man-utd-other-top-ucl-winners-missing-in-2025-26-tournament/