Overview
- UEFA’s Club Competitions Committee added paragraph 16.03 to the Champions League rules to stop an identical individual match being played with the same team at home for three consecutive seasons.
- The restriction applies only to the 36-team league phase and only when the same stadium would host a third straight meeting.
- If drawn together, Liverpool cannot host Real Madrid at Anfield for a third straight league-phase meeting and must play at the Bernabéu instead, and Arsenal cannot visit Inter at the San Siro for a third straight time.
- The full 36-team field is set after playoffs ended on Wednesday, with AEK, Fenerbahçe, Slovan Bratislava and Viking taking the final spots for the draw in Nyon.
- UEFA will use its automated draw process to enforce paragraph 16.03 alongside existing pot and federation limits, a change that could shift home revenue, travel plans and ticketing for the affected clubs when the competition begins in early September.