Liverpool ‘barred’ from hosting Real Madrid at home in Champions League because of UEFA regulation

A new UEFA rule would effectively prevent Real Madrid from hosting Liverpool at Anfield during the 2026/27 Champions League group stage.

On Thursday, all six English clubs—Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham, and Newcastle—who will compete in the 2025/26 Champions League discovered their opponents for the 36-team, eight-match league phase.

There were some major matchups for each side, as listed below:

Arsenal: Bayern Munich (home), Inter (away), Atlético (home), Club Brugge (away), Olympiakos (home), Slavia Prague (away), Kairat Almaty (home), Athletic Club (away)

Chelsea: Barcelona (home), Bayern Munich (away), Benfica (home), Atalanta (away), Ajax (home), Napoli (away), Pafos (home), Qarabag (away)

Liverpool: Real Madrid (home), Inter (away), Atlético (home), Frankfurt (away), PSV (home), Marseille (away), Qarabag (home), Galatasaray (away)

Manchester City: Dortmund (home), Real Madrid (away), Leverkusen (home), Villarreal (away), Napoli (home), Bodø/Glimt (away), Galatasaray (home), Monaco (away)

Newcastle: Barcelona (home), PSG (away), Benfica (home), Leverkusen (away), PSV (home), Marseille (away), Athletic Club (home), Union S-G (away)

Tottenham: Dortmund (home), PSG (away), Villarreal (home), Frankfurt (away), Slavia Prague (home), Bodø/Glimt (away), Copenhagen (home), Monaco (away)

As a result, former Tottenham captain Harry Kane will return to north London to face Arsenal, and Kevin De Bruyne will face Napoli at the Etihad Stadium. David Luiz will also return to Stamford Bridge with Cypriot club Pafos. Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold will host Real Madrid at Anfield for Liverpool’s clash with the Spanish giants.

However, next season, Liverpool won’t be able to play Real Madrid at Anfield due to a UEFA rule change.

UEFA states that “the UEFA Club Competitions Committee has introduced a new condition for the 2026/27 Champions League draw, prohibiting the same two teams from facing each other at the same home venue for three consecutive seasons.

This means if two teams played each other with one hosting at home in the 2024/25 season and then again at the same home team’s stadium in 2025/26, they cannot meet with that same home team hosting again in 2026/27. However, they could still be drawn against each other at the other team’s venue.”

Since Liverpool hosted Real Madrid at Anfield in the past two seasons, if they are drawn again in 2026/27, the game would be held at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu instead.