Squad lists for the Champions League league phase closed at 23:59 on Wednesday 2 September. The football starts on Tuesday 8 September. In the six days in between come the first league fixtures of the full season, and with them the first serious injuries. The practical question sporting directors are asking themselves right now is a single one: if I lose a starter today, can I replace him?
The answer in the UEFA rulebook is yes, with one condition that changes everything: the replacement has to be someone who was already in the building on 2 September.
What the rules actually say
On replacing an outfield player the text reads: “A replacement of an outfield player registered on List A is permitted in the case of a long-term injury or illness lasting at least 60 days. During the league phase, up to and including Matchday 6, a club may temporarily replace a maximum of one outfield player and register a new outfield player, provided that player was already registered with the club before the List A deadline of 2 September 2026.”
Three constraints, then, worth separating out:
| Constraint | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| At least 60 days | A three-week injury opens no door at all |
| One outfield player only | The second long-term absentee cannot be replaced |
| Up to and including Matchday 6 | After that, the list is what it is until the phase ends |
| Replacement already registered before 2 September | You fish inside the club, never on the market |
There is also a clause that gets read less and weighs more: if the injured player recovers before the sixty days are up, he remains ineligible for UEFA competitions until the period expires. The replacement is not free: it is paid for with a stretch of time that never shortens, not even when the physio work goes better than expected.
Why the fourth constraint is the one that decides
The first three constraints are numbers, and numbers get accepted. The fourth is a closed door, and it is the one that separates clubs from each other.
The replacement must already be registered before 2 September. Which means the replacement is not a transfer operation: it is an internal promotion. A club that on 2 September had twenty-eight or thirty professionals under contract, and put twenty-five of them on List A, has three or five names ready to move up. A club that had exactly twenty-five players registered has nobody, and for that club the rule simply does not exist.
Put differently: the injury replacement rewards clubs with a squad wider than the list allows them to show, and does nothing for a club that built a squad perfectly calibrated on twenty-five places. It is the opposite of what intuition suggests, because it looks like a relief measure and is in fact a measure that hands an advantage back to whoever was better equipped already.
The same goes for List B, which has no numerical cap and can be amended all season, up to 23:59 on the day before a match. A club with an academy producing players born in 2005 or later, and keeping them registered for the required two uninterrupted years, ends up with a reserve tank the others have to buy, and which after 2 September is no longer buyable.
Goalkeepers are a separate and more generous chapter
For goalkeepers the rules change on all four fronts: “Long-term injury or illness lasting at least 30 days: A club may temporarily replace the goalkeeper and register a new one at any time during the season.”
Thirty days instead of sixty. At any point in the season, not just up to Matchday 6. And the regulations add that “the replacement goalkeeper does not have to be locally trained, even if the replaced goalkeeper was”, meaning the substitute is exempt from the locally trained requirement that weighs on the eight reserved places on List A. There is a second door too: a club may replace a goalkeeper who leaves on a permanent transfer after Matchday 6 and before the end of the league phase.
The reason for the asymmetry is that a goalkeeper cannot be improvised: lose one when you have two on the list and the second plays; lose the second as well and you do not have a tactical solution, you have a problem. It is no accident that the rules demand at least three goalkeepers across Lists A and B combined, and not two.
Where this rule comes from, and why it is not new
The temporary replacement of a long-term injured player has not always existed. It was introduced by the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Tirana on 11 September 2025, with immediate effect on all European club competitions: the approved wording spoke of admitting “the temporary replacement of a maximum of one outfield player with long-term injury or illness during the league phase until matchday 6 included”, and the stated reasoning was “to ensure that squad lists are not unfairly reduced and players are safeguarded from additional workload pressure”.
So 2026/27 is the second season with this rule, not the first. Worth saying, because when a rule comes in with the season already under way, as happened a year ago, it tends to be reported as new the following year too.
What to expect between now and Matchday 6
The league phase ends on 27 January with eighteen simultaneous matches, and the final will be played at the Metropolitano in Madrid on 5 June 2027. Matchday 6, the boundary beyond which the list hardens completely for outfield players, is played on 8 and 9 December 2026.
Until then every club holds one card, and can play it once. A club that uses it in September for a sixty-day injury no longer has it in November. A club that keeps it risks reaching December without having used it and without being able to use it any more. It is a risk management decision dressed up as paperwork, and it is exactly the kind of choice no supporter sees and that weighs on a whole campaign.
Sources: official UEFA page on Champions League 2026/27 league phase squad lists, with the regulatory texts quoted verbatim; UEFA Executive Committee decision of 11 September 2025 in Tirana, as reported by specialist outlets and the UEFA circular of that same week; official 2026/27 league phase calendar.
Frequently asked questions
When did squad lists for the 2026/27 league phase close?
List A had to be filed and verified by the national associations by 23:59 CET on Wednesday 2 September 2026. The league phase starts on Tuesday 8 September and ends on 27 January with eighteen simultaneous matches.
Can a club replace a player who gets injured after the lists have closed?
Yes, but under three conditions. The injury or illness must last at least 60 days, the replacement is allowed for one outfield player only and only up to and including Matchday 6, and above all the replacement must already have been registered by the club before the 2 September deadline. You cannot fish outside.
What happens if the injured player recovers before the 60 days are up?
He remains ineligible for UEFA competitions until the end of the period. That is the price of the replacement: you trade a squad place for a fixed stretch of time, and the stretch does not shrink if the recovery goes better than expected.
Are the rules the same for goalkeepers?
No, and the difference is sharp. For a goalkeeper an injury counts as long term at 30 days, the replacement can be made at any point in the season, and the replacement goalkeeper does not have to be locally trained, even if the one he replaces was. On top of that, a club may also replace a goalkeeper who leaves on a permanent transfer after Matchday 6 and before the end of the league phase.
How long has the injury replacement rule existed?
Since September 2025. It was approved by the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Tirana on 11 September 2025, taking effect on European club competitions from that season. So it is not new this year: 2026/27 is its second campaign.
How is List A made up?
A maximum of 25 players, of whom at least two goalkeepers. Eight of those twenty-five places are reserved for locally trained players, and no more than four of those eight may be association-trained rather than club-trained. Across Lists A and B combined, a club must also have at least three goalkeepers registered.
Who can be on List B?
Players born on or after 1 January 2005 who, since their fifteenth birthday, have been eligible to play for the club for two uninterrupted years, or for three consecutive years with at most one year on loan at a club from the same association. List B has no numerical cap and can be amended during the season, up to 23:59 on the day before the match.
