Topics: Liverpool, Arne Slot, Champions League
Liverpool have named their 22-man squad for the opening stages of this season's Champions League – and a surprise name will not feature in Europe under Arne Slot in the coming weeks.
The Reds will come up against Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the league phase, as well as PSV Eindhoven, Qarabag, Frankfurt, Marseille, and Galatasaray.
Slot's men will host Diego Simeone's Atletico in their opener, but winger Federico Chiesa will miss out after he was not included in their 22-man squad, which was announced on Wednesday.
Alexander Isak, the club's record signing, has been named alongside fellow summer arrivals Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike.
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After his record-breaking Premier League debut against Newcastle last month, teenager Rio Ngumoha could also make his European bow for the club after Slot named him in the squad.
As pointed out by journalist Ian Doyle, Liverpool could only have 17 non-homegrown players in the Champions League squad, and Ngumoha has taken one of those slots.
Goalkeepers: Alisson Becker, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman
Defenders: Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Milos Kerkez, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Andy Robertson, Jeremie Frimpong
Midfielders: Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Alexis MacAllister, Ryan Gravenberch
Forwards: Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Hugo Ekitike, Rio Ngumoha
UEFA rules state that List A is made up of a maximum of 25 players, two of whom must be goalkeepers.
There are a minimum of eight places reserved exclusively for ‘locally trained players’ and no club may have more than four ‘association-trained players’ listed among those eight places.
A player may be registered on List B if he is born on, or after, 1 January 2004 and, has since had his 15th birthday, been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year.
Players aged 16 may be submitted if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years without interruption.
Speaking after the draw was made, Arne Slot opened up their upcoming fixtures in Europe and singled out their clash against Real Madrid.
“I think the first thing to say is that like last season, it is a very challenging draw, but we knew that it would be because in the Champions League, especially with the new format, there is no such thing as an easy draw," he said.
“But what is also clear is that this is a very exciting draw, full of big games both home and away.
“To be able to welcome Real Madrid to Anfield again is something special. Last season’s game was of course a memorable one – and I expect the same this time around. That is, I am sure, a fixture that the whole world will be looking at."
