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UCL draw: Why Liverpool and Real Madrid can't meet at Anfield in league phase

The format of the Champions League changed for the 2024/25 campaign, with the 36-team league phase taking the place of the traditional group stage.

Since the changes, both of Madrid’s league phases have included trips to Anfield.

The Reds claimed a 2-0 win in 2024 thanks to goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo, while the Argentinian midfielder was on the scoresheet once again a year later in a 1-0 victory.

However, Liverpool will not have the chance to register a home win over Madrid for the third season on the bounce.

A UEFA rule states that the same fixture cannot take place for three consecutive years in the league phase.

There is nothing in the rulebook preventing the sides meeting at the Bernabeu, though, meaning the Merseyside team could yet inflict more damage on the Spanish giants.

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The rule also affects Arsenal, who have been drawn away to Internazionale in each of the last two seasons.

Last term, a Gabriel Jesus brace inspired a 3-1 victory for The Gunners at San Siro, after they suffered a 1-0 loss in the inaugural league phase a year earlier.

Paragraph 16.03 of last season's Champions League regulations read: "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."

Liverpool’s victories over Madrid reflect overall strong performances in the league phase since the switch in formats, finishing top in the 2024/25 campaign and third last season.

However, they bowed out in the last 16 two seasons ago against eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain, before losing against the French side again in the quarter-finals last time around.

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