Rio Ngumoha status in Champions League squad explained after Federico Chiesa decision
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Federico Chiesa suffered a fresh setback in his Liverpool career on Wednesday, when news emerged that he had been omitted from the Champions League squad for 2025-26 league phase.
It was a disappointing update for Chiesa, who scored a vital goal against Bournemouth on the opening weekend of the campaign and has featured in all three of Liverpool’s Premier League matches so far this season.
It took Chiesa until April last term to reach four league appearances — a record admittedly hampered by injury — and after remaining at Liverpool beyond the summer window, there was hope he would play a more important role this season.
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Arne Slot’s decision not to select him in Europe would suggest otherwise, particularly given teenager Rio Ngumoha was chosen ahead of the former Juventus man.
That is an unusual situation, with most academy graduates not needing to be named in a UEFA squad due to rules surrounding homegrown players.
Confusingly, Ngumoha does not fall into that criteria, while even more confusingly, Chiesa was overlooked despite Liverpool’s Champions League roster having three free slots.
That is down to UEFA's needlessly confusing rules, which have not been updated since the group stage was expanded to eight matches.
UEFA regulations stipulate that clubs can name up to 25 players in their List A squad.
Ngumoha has been included in the Champions League roster ahead of Chiesa
Typically, players under 18 bypass this problem by being named in the List B roster, which for Liverpool this season includes Jayden Danns and Trey Nyoni, who therefore do not need to take up a spot in List A.
To be included in List B, players must be born on or after 1 January 2004 and have played for the club for an “uninterrupted period of two years”
That means next season Ngumoha will be categorized as a List B player, presuming he is still at Liverpool, but for now, the winger remains a non-homegrown selection.
This meant Slot had to choose whether to include Chiesa or Ngumoha in his Champions League squad, although others such as Giovanni Leono or Wataru Endo could have been overlooked instead.
Ultimately, he fell back on his penchant for leaving out Chiesa, a decision which could prove terminal for the Italian’s long-term Liverpool aspirations.