Chelsea make very late Champions League squad change ahead of Bayern Munich after injury blow

Chelsea 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 Blues travel to Germany to face the Bundesliga side on Wednesday evening and Enzo Maresca was handed an injury boost ahead of the clash, with Cole Palmer, Estevao Willian, Romero Lavia and Benoit Badiashile all training at Cobham on Wednesday. Liam Delap and Dario Essugo are the Blues' only long-term absentees at present and the club have now replaced the latter with Facundo Buonanotte for the league phase.

Essugo was earlier this month named in the Blues' A-List but after picking up a thigh injury during the most recent international break, the midfielder has now been replaced by Buonanotte. As per UEFA Champions League rules, Chelsea are indeed allowed to replace one injured outfield player after the September 2 deadline.

Article 31.14 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).

"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 this 60-day period, 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 as normal on Tuesday and is set to be among the travelling party to make the trip to Germany. 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.

Before the Brentford game, Maresca heaped praise on the Italian. "Buonanotte is a good player," said Maresca. "I know him because he was in Leicester and I was there, so I have some contact there. He's a player that can help us. We have so many competitions, so many games, that for sure he's going to play games for us."

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