Liverpool vs Real Madrid match 'banned' as UEFA make Champions League rule change

Liverpool will be banned from facing Real Madrid in next season's Champions League league phase should both sides qualify for Europe's premier club competition.

This is because of a specific UEFA regulation, as the two clubs have been drawn against one another in two successive campaigns since the format changed. Arne Slot's team beat Madrid 2-0 at Anfield in late November last season and will welcome the Spanish giants again this week.

It will mark the 13th occasion Liverpool have encountered Real Madrid in the tournament, with all bar one of those clashes occurring in the past 16 years.

Nevertheless, only two of those fixtures have been played in the previous group stages format, with the other encounters happening in the knockout rounds of the competition, including three finals (1981, 2021 and 2022).

However, according to paragraph 16.03 of the UEFA Champions League regulations, the two sides will not face each other in next year's league phase edition of the tournament.

The regulation states: "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.

"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)."