Liverpool and Real Madrid are set to face off in the Champions League once again, but the two clubs are banned from facing each other in the group stages next season
Liverpool won’t be able to face Real Madrid in next season’s Champions League league phase if both teams make the cut, thanks to a special UEFA rule triggered by the teams being drawn against each other two years running since the format change.
They played in late November last season on Merseyside, where Arne Slot’s men took a 2-0 win, with the return leg at Anfield happening this week.
This marks the 13th showdown between Liverpool and Real Madrid in the top-tier comp, with only one exception, all meetings happening in the last 16 years.
However, only two of those matchups were in the old group stages format; the rest were in the competition’s knockout phases, including the finals in 1981, 2021, and 2022.
As per paragraph 16.03 of the UEFA Champions League regulations, the teams won’t clash in the 2024-25 Champions League group stage.
The regulation says: “In accordance with paragraph 16.03 of the UEFA Champions League regulations, 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,” reports the Liverpool Echo.
“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.”