Chelsea Champions Lague squad: Dario Essugo replacement named after midfielder's injury

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has taken the opportunity to make a change to his Champions League squad ahead of the start of the League Phase.

On Wednesday evening, the Blues get their campaign underway with a showdown against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

UEFA regulations are already counting against the world champions with Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson eligible to face his former club.

However, on Tuesday morning, Chelsea used the rules - which were amended last week - to their advantage by replacing one of their injured players.

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Buonanotte handed Champions League reprieve

Despite only signing for Chelsea during the closing days of the summer transfer window, Facundo Buonanotte was left out of Maresca's plans for the Champions League.

While Chelsea are blessed with being able to meet the relevant homegrown rules, the amount of foregn talent at their disposal led to the Argentina international initially missing out.

Now, the playmaker has been promoted to the squad on the back of Dario Essugo suffering a serious thigh injury while on international duty with Portugal Under-21s.

Chelsea fear that the more defensive-minded midfielder will be absent for the rest of 2025, subsequently leading to him being removed from the group.

Therefore, Buonanotte was part of the travelling group for the trip to Germany on Tuesday, the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee looking to build on making his debut against Brentford at the weekend.

The likelihood is that the 20-year-old will be named on the substitutes' bench for the encounter with the Bundesliga champions.