Liverpool 'banned' from hosting Real Madrid in Champions League due to new UEFA rule

Liverpool now know they cannot host Real Madrid at Anfield if both sides secure qualification for the league phase of next season's Champions League. The pair have been drawn against one another across the first two league phases following the format change.

The Reds triumphed 2-0 on Merseyside in late November and will welcome Madrid again in the forthcoming weeks. That match will mark the 13th occasion these giants have clashed in this tournament, with all bar one encounter occurring within the previous 16 years.

Notably, only two previous fixtures - a brace of games in 2014 - happened during the group stages. Their remaining encounters formed part of the knockout phases, encompassing three finals (1981, 2021 and 2022).

They shall not, however, clash at Anfield again throughout next season's league phase, in line with paragraph 16.03 of the UEFA Champions League regulations.

The ruling declares that "UEFA administration may determine alternative conditions for the draw in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee and may adapt any of the conditions of the draw to avoid deadlock situations and/or take into account any relevant constraints in light of decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee."

As part of the draw procedure adopted, "the UEFA Club Competitions Committee has determined an additional condition that may be applicable to the UEFA Champions League draw for the 2026/27 season, deciding that any individual fixture between the same two teams may not be repeated in the same competition with the same home team for three consecutive seasons.

"This means that if any teams that already played against each other in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League in the 2024/25 season are again drawn against each other, with the same home team, in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League in this 2025/26 season, those teams will not be able to be drawn against each other with the same home team in the 2026/27 season (although, for the sake of clarity, those teams could still be drawn against each other at the venue of the other team)."