Federico Chiesa was forced to withdraw from the Liverpool squad to face Marseille despite being named among the substitutes, having picked up a knock.
Chiesa was named as one of nine substitutes just over an hour before kickoff in France, but the 28-year-old did not take his place on the bench as planned.
He was instead ruled out after suffering an injury in the warmup, leaving Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha as the only attackers in reserve.
It is the latest in a long line of setbacks for Liverpool’s No. 14, who has picked up untimely injuries on a number of occasions – including earlier this season.
The Reds set up in a 4-2-4 in their penultimate clash of the Champions League‘s league phase, with Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike up front but splitting wide for Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz to push through the middle.
Chiesa could have been an ideal option to turn to late in the game, particularly in that system, but he was left to watch on from behind the dugout.
The Italian has been linked with a return to former club Juventus this month, but reports suggest they have now turned their attention to Fenerbahce’s Youssef En-Nesyri and Atalanta’s Daniel Maldini instead.
This Is Anfield understands Liverpool’s stance over a January deal for Chiesa has remained unchanged this month: in short, he is not available.
It seems likely however that a permanent move will be sanctioned in the summer, with the versatile forward far down the pecking order under Arne Slot.
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