Thursday's UEFA Champions League draw for the 2026-27 league phase will feature 36 clubs — including Liverpool, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and Arsenal — all placed in pot one as among Uefa's nine highest-rated sides currently in this season's competition.

Yet a regulation introduced by Uefa this season will block two fixture combinations that would otherwise be entirely possible: Liverpool hosting Real Madrid, and Inter Milan hosting Arsenal.

The rule explained

The UEFA Champions League's league phase was introduced in 2024-25, with each club playing eight matches against eight different opponents — two from each of the four seeding pots, one home and one away.

From this season, however, a club cannot host the same opponent at home in the league phase for three consecutive seasons. The rule targets fixture repetition, not the fixture itself — the same two teams can still be drawn together, but not with the same team as host three years in a row.

Two fixtures affected

Only two fixture combinations currently meet the criteria that would trigger this restriction ahead of Thursday's draw.

Liverpool faced Real Madrid at Anfield in both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 league phase seasons. The Reds came out on top each time, winning 2-0 and then 1-0. A third successive home tie against the Spanish giants is therefore off the table for this season's draw.

Similarly, Inter Milan hosted Arsenal at San Siro across the same two seasons. Inter won the first encounter 1-0, but suffered a 3-1 defeat in the second — a result that formed part of Arsenal's run to their first UEFA Champions League final in 20 years.

What the regulations say

The rule is set out in paragraph 16.03 of last season's Champions League regulations. It states that the UEFA Club Competitions Committee has determined 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.

Practically, this means that should either pair be drawn together on Thursday, Uefa will ensure Liverpool and Inter Milan are not designated as the home side for those respective matches.

The restriction does not prevent either pair from meeting again — it simply guarantees a change of venue if they do.