Surprising Circumstances Prevent Liverpool from Meeting Real Madrid at Anfield in Current Champions League Group Stage
LIVERPOOL will not welcome Real Madrid during the league stage of the Champions League due to a lesser-known regulation.
The Reds are set to discover their opponents in the tournament’s early rounds when the draw takes place tomorrow.
Despite this, Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola, whose team kicked off the season by securing a last-minute equalizer at Newcastle on Sunday, is already aware that Real Madrid cannot come to Anfield.
The prestigious European club has had league phase games on Merseyside for the past two seasons.
Uefa implemented a rule to prevent the same match from occurring in three consecutive seasons.
This means Trent Alexander-Arnold will not be making another intense return to Liverpool this year.
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Clause 16.03 of last season’s Champions League regulations states: “Uefa administration may establish alternative conditions for the draw based on guidelines set forth by the club competitions committee and can modify any conditions of the draw to avoid deadlock or consider any relevant constraints arising from decisions made by the Uefa executive committee.
“The Uefa club competitions committee has decided on an additional condition that may apply to the Uefa Champions League draw for the 2026/27 season, stating that matches between the same two teams cannot be repeated with the same home team for three consecutive seasons.
“This implies that if teams that have played against each other in the league phase of the Uefa Champions League during the 2024/25 season are drawn again in the 2025/26 season with the same home team, those teams cannot be drawn against each other in the following 2026/27 season.”
Liverpool achieved a narrow 1-0 win over Real Madrid last November, with Alexis Mac Allister netting the crucial goal late in the match.
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The Reds also secured a 2-0 victory when the Spanish giants came to Anfield the previous year.
However, Jude Bellingham and his teammates will not be facing another tough trip to Merseyside during the league phase.
According to Uefa statutes, Liverpool and Real Madrid will not necessarily be kept apart during the draw.
They might still clash at the Bernabeu in the opening weeks of the Champions League.
Liverpool’s last match against Real Madrid took place in March 2023, where a spot in the quarter-finals was on the line.
Karim Benzema scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory for the LaLiga side.