Liverpool blocked from hosting Real Madrid by new UEFA draw rule

November 4, 2025 Oliver Obel

The new rule, which takes effect from the 2025/26 season, was confirmed in UEFA’s updated competition regulations and aims to reduce repetitive fixtures between the same clubs.

The timing of the regulation comes as Arne Slot’s side prepare to face Real Madrid at Anfield on Tuesday, November 5, in a crucial group-stage meeting.

Liverpool have endured a challenging run, losing six of their last eight matches in all competitions, though Saturday’s 2–0 Premier League win over Aston Villa offered a timely lift.

In Europe, the Reds have beaten Atletico Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt, with a single defeat to Galatasaray. Real Madrid, meanwhile, have maintained a perfect record and top the group heading into the Anfield clash.

Regardless of Tuesday’s result, UEFA’s new policy ensures this will be the Spanish side’s final group-stage visit to Anfield for the foreseeable future — part of the governing body’s effort to increase fixture diversity and fairness in future draws.

How the regulation works

Under the revised draw system, introduced for the 2026/27 Champions League, clubs drawn against each other with the same home fixture in two consecutive seasons cannot repeat that home matchup for a third straight campaign.

Since Liverpool hosted Real Madrid in the 2024/25 group stage — winning 2–0 — and are again the home side this season, any future meeting between the two in 2026/27 would have to take place at the Santiago Bernabéu instead.

In practical terms, it ensures home advantage alternates evenly and avoids repetitive pairings, particularly between Europe’s most familiar rivals.

UEFA’s official regulation states:

“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).”
— UEFA Champions League Regulations, 2025/26 edition

Knockout rounds unaffected

The rule applies exclusively to the group phase and will not affect potential knockout-stage meetings.

That means supporters could still see a future Liverpool–Real Madrid clash in the last-16 or quarter-finals — just not in the Anfield group stage until at least the 2027/28 season.

Football analysts suggest the adjustment is part of UEFA’s wider competition reforms, designed to diversify fixtures under the new “Swiss model” format.

Sources: UEFA Champions League Regulations (2025/26 Edition); UEFA.com; Liverpool FC; Real Madrid CF