UEFA block one Liverpool fixture in Champions League this season as little-known rule revealed

UEFA have blocked Liverpool from participating in one fixture in the 2026/27 Champions League because of a little-known rule.

The Champions League draw takes place in Monaco at 5pm on Thursday, with 32 of the 36 teams already qualified.

Four play-offs on Wednesday evening will decide the final four sides, with Lyon and Fenerbahce locking horns in a mouthwatering fixture.

Six-time European champions Liverpool qualified after finishing fifth in the Premier League and like all of those in the league phase, will take on eight different teams in the format - which is now in its third year.

However, there is one fixture which will not happen in the league phase as Liverpool are not allowed to host Real Madrid at Anfield.

Liverpool faced Real in the first phase of the Champions League for the past two seasons, winning both games at their home ground under Arne Slot.

Liverpool beat Real 2-0 in November 2024 and then a year on, picked up a 1-0 victory courtesy of an Alexis Mac Allister strike.

However, UEFA rules stipulate that a repeat fixture with the same home team cannot happen for three seasons in a row.

This move has been taken in order to continue providing fresh match-ups in the league phase. A reverse fixture is allowed, meaning Liverpool could face Real at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Liverpool confirmed the rule on their official club website, citing paragraph 16.03 of last season's Champions League regulations.

The regulations state: "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.

"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."

The UEFA rule also impacts Arsenal, who cannot play Inter Milan at the San Siro in this season's league phase.