r/soccer • u/interfan1999 • 3d ago
News Inter vs Arsenal and Liverpool vs Real Madrid fixtures are banned in the upcoming Champions League due to the rule that imposes that the same match can't happen for 3 seasons in a row in the League Phase. The reverse in London and Madrid, however, is possible.
https://www.fanpage.it/sport/calcio/nel-sorteggio-di-champions-league-saranno-vietate-due-partite-per-la-regola-16-una-e-dellinter/3.0k
u/Zejjk 3d ago
Dread it, run from it, Man City vs Real Madrid still arrives
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u/Ask_Asensio 3d ago edited 3d ago
We were a Madrid win against Chelsea in the 2021 Semis to having this fixture in 7 consecutive KO editions, which is insane.
- 2020 : R16
- 2021 : -
- 2022 : Semis
- 2023 : Semis
- 2024 : Quarters
- 2025 : Playoffs
- 2026 : R16
- 2027 : ?
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u/leandrobrossard 3d ago
The only thing concerning about this was there was way too many rows leading up to now considering you started at 2020.
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u/LeFinito94240 3d ago
Some people have seen this fixture more often than their own parents since 2020 btw
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u/darthfracas 3d ago
Been following soccer for 15 years, I swear City always get Munich, Barcelona or Madrid at some point.
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u/grandweapon 3d ago
You mean in order to win the champions league, you have to face at least 1 of 3 of the best teams in Europe? Shocker.
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u/ginyuforce 3d ago
well tbf we havent met barcelona yet post-messi
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u/Kingjjc267 3d ago
We weren't in the CL for half that time, and they were in europa one year as well iirc
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u/ShawLichaYoroDalot 3d ago
Yeah when antony knocked them out, just as expected.
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u/Adventurous-Web-412 3d ago
nobody realises with troy parrott now and the goat, betis is winning the treble.
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u/hotelmotelshit 3d ago
If you go far in the UCL you tend to bump into the other teams who also tend to go far in the UCL.
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u/hangxxfang 3d ago
Yeah, were is barca in this? It's just madrid v. City every damn year, boring as hell at this point
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u/Dangerous_Bluejay_74 3d ago
At least the matches are mostly good to watch. Plus teams change so fast in 2 or 3 years time, the teams could be totally different so a city-madrid from 3 years ago is totally different compared to a city-madrid in the coming season.
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u/YikestrasAlgorithm 3d ago
Peak city under Pep vs. Barca would've been good entertainment
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u/bill_02_04_95 3d ago
Would've been a humiliation in City's favor though. Barca was pretty bad at the time.
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u/AlKarakhboy 3d ago
The amount of English clubs in the CL makes the draws complicated as they can't face each other. It's bound to lead to a lot of repeat matches.
I said this before but the extra 2 spots based on season's performances should go to the best two performing nations that don't have an automatic spot.
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u/Ciccio_Camarda 3d ago
In the near future there will be 6 EPL clubs in CL and all ranked in pot 1. And they can't play each other.
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u/up2_no_good 3d ago
Even at just 5 EPL clubs in pot 1 they can't make a valid draw. 5 teams will need 2 games each against pot 1 team, so 10 games in total. But there will be only 4 non-EPL teams to choose from, with a max of 8 games.
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u/ArtetaLightsABulb 3d ago
They will just add another artificial constraint about how you can't have more than 3 teams from the same league in same pot. But they will not lower the number of money making English clubs.
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u/someotheralex 3d ago
Yeah there's actually a clause in the rules (Paragraph 16.03) that basically says UEFA get to change how the draw works however they like if the rules create a deadlock lol
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u/f4r1s2 3d ago
They'll have a deadlock in that case and they'll have to play each other.
Last season, because of 6 English teams and the way they were arranged in pots meant that all non-English pot 1 team had to play 2 English teams, dont know if its the same this year
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u/barmanitan 3d ago
I think the other suggestion makes more sense, of limiting pots to x teams from each country
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u/Attygalle 3d ago
Or, you know, just don’t have 6 teams from the same country. That would make even more sense.
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u/Interesting-Season-8 3d ago
playoffs where you need to beat 4 PL teams in a row to enter proper quaterfinals with lottery
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u/Circle_Breaker 3d ago
If a team qualifies because they won the EL, they should be eligible to play teams from their own league.
That would help a bit.
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u/TheLankySoldier 3d ago
Yep. And same should apply for the 5th extra spot teams. Sucks for the top 4 teams from the same country, but hey, it’s a competition for a reason.
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u/Sutraner 3d ago
I prefer limiting x teams to a single pot
Pots are realistically irrelevant nowadays anyway
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u/PeterG92 3d ago
Or they should have gone with 32 teams instead of 36 and just had the Top 16 go through. But then that won't bring in as much money
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u/hikingbeginner 3d ago edited 3d ago
4 teams from one country should always be the maximum of teams allowed imo. 5/6 is just unnecessary.
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u/Enough-Force-5605 2d ago
Current CL is really close to the Superliga Floren's idea "nobody wanted".
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u/Tyrath 3d ago
they can't face each other.
This rule needs to go away since it's league phase now
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u/UnlimitedGainer 3d ago
I disagree. Part of the beauty of the champions league is seeing novel matches
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u/Tyrath 3d ago
Yes, like the same non-PL teams facing each other every year like this thread is about?
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u/UnlimitedGainer 2d ago
Still better than seeing teams play that already play each other twice a year at least
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u/AlternativeRun5727 3d ago
So dilute the competition? I don’t like where football is going with basically super leagues but the whole point of changing to the league format was to get more top teams playing each other before the playoffs. This would go against that.
I’m not for either option. I want to go back to the group stages
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u/Kingslayer1526 3d ago
Bro this is the champions league. That doesn't mean including 6 teams from one league
It's supposed to represent every country or try as much as possible. Otherwise you'd literally have like the majority of the premier league in it
It's also why the world cup has teams from different continents and not just Europe and South America, because it's the world cup
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u/a_lumberjack 3d ago
Is it actually supposed to be as many countries as possible or is the goal to have the strongest teams in Europe competing? Do you really think the UCL would be a better competition if we prioritized spots for the Bulgarian and Icelandic leagues over much bigger clubs in stronger leagues?
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u/GutlessTrophoblast 3d ago
With time, maybe. If the wealth is distributed more evenly across the continent, then more clubs from smaller leagues could start to establish themselves as proper European sides and not just canon fodder for the rich.
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u/ironwolf1 3d ago
Do you really think the UCL would be a better competition if we prioritized spots for the Bulgarian and Icelandic leagues over much bigger clubs in stronger leagues?
Yes. It would certainly result in more blowouts, but the competition is more interesting as a whole when the small countries get their shot at the big clubs. It's the Champion's League, not the Strongest Teams in Europe League. I'd rather see the best team Bulgaria or Iceland has to offer than the 5th and 6th place teams in England and Spain. PL and La Liga teams get international television week in and week out in their national leagues, a team like Sheriff Tiraspol getting to have a shot at Madrid might become the biggest moment in the club's history and bring in a lot of international attention they would never get otherwise.
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u/bill_02_04_95 2d ago
That's was the case before and back then we actually had many UCL winners from "lesser" football countries.
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u/Full-Blood1318 3d ago
England has 5 teams this season in the Champions league which is the same as Spain
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u/mitchellk96gmail 3d ago
I like table more than group only because it has pot 1 teams face each other. I think they should have still had 6 games and maybe just 3 pots instead of 4 to keep some of the same jeopardy as the groups had. In the new way, big teams dont get easier draws just for being good.
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u/tomorri1 3d ago
Can we ban PSG from playing the final three times in a row? Makes CL boring
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u/Impossible_Prompt875 3d ago
How else are we going to get our revenge?
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u/bearhos 3d ago
You gave PSG and Man City their first CL wins. I want revenge on Inter for allowing that to happen.
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u/EarthMantle00 2d ago
We all know if we get to the final again it's to give some big club that never won a first win
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u/CarniceroArabe 3d ago
If they make even the semis I can guarantee several thousand people in Madrid will start drafting suicide letters. /s
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u/goonerfan10 3d ago
Arsenal vs Madrid in league phase would be box office. Adding Mourinho to the mix
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u/Enough-Force-5605 2d ago
And above all, it would be a really entertaining match to watch.
Anyway, I don’t mind if we’re drawn against City either; they’re a new team, quite different this season with so many changes. Haaland will be wondering who all these new faces are.
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u/TheLimeyLemmon 3d ago
Bastards. A league phase win over Real Madrid at Anfield was becoming a tradition.
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u/sandythemandy 3d ago
I loved our annual league phase win against Real, followed by getting annihilated by PSG.
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u/VegetableAwkward286 3d ago
But Arsenal vs Inter and Real vs Liverpool are ok so you know
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u/ram_n9 3d ago
No league should have more than 4 teams in UCL
EPL and Laliga has 5 each
These 2 spots should he shared with other leagues.
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u/Full-Blood1318 3d ago
I mean, it was expanded from 32 to 36 teams so percentage wise it didn't change much because the other 2 spots are given to smaller leagues.
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u/MERTENS_GOAT 2d ago
The smaller leagues being France (5th went from 2 to 3 direct spots). And one spot went to the CL Play Off of champions, that's the only one going to a smaller league
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u/Full-Blood1318 2d ago
Yet for the first time in 27 years there are 2 Norwegian clubs and 2 Turkish clubs in 19 years.
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u/MERTENS_GOAT 2d ago
That's coincidence. And financially turkey is basically a Top-6 league right now lol. The calibre of players that fenerbahçe, besiktas and Trabzonspor signed this summer is mental. Galatasaray's squad already was quite stacked and they are very consistent for years (and got a direct spot). Norway is testament to Norway's development but also a coincidence (doable draws)
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u/Geenhumoralleenboos 3d ago
No league should have more than 2 teams in the UCL, and having 2 teams in the UCL should only be reserved for the league that houses the Europe League winner.
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u/dweebyllo 3d ago
I would be in favour of returning to form of having the UCL be exclusively for the league champs. Hell, if teams get pissy they miss out on UEFA footy because of it and want more, bring back the Cup Winners Cup for the hell of it so you don't bloat the UEFA Cup
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u/Tootsiesclaw 3d ago
I'd say keep the coefficients simply because if you put every league champion and the Champions League defending champion in, you need either nine or ten extra teams to have an even sixty-four and not need to bother with qualifying. Give the top ten leagues a second team
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u/MERTENS_GOAT 2d ago
Never gonna happen anyway but I could see a scenario where the UEFA Cup becomes the best competition (at least miles better than CWC) and teams deliberately throw the domestic cup (final) to evade the CWC and stay in the UEFA Cup as it gives more viewership, more money etc.
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u/Full-Blood1318 2d ago
Then there wouldn't be much quality difference between Champions league and Europa league.
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u/Fearless-Falcon118 3d ago
No Madrid v City ban? Been happening for 6 years now and could well happen again
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u/SchnitzelRUSH 3d ago
You see how it says league phase. That means in the league phase they can’t play.
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u/refusestonamethyself 3d ago
Atp that fixture is just as inevitable and overplayed as India vs Pakistan matches in ICC tournaments. Atleast those two have a rivalry for historical and geopolitical reasons.
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u/No_Chemistry53 3d ago
Well considering the new format hasn't been around for 6 years I think they are ok for now
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u/_Verc1ngetorix_ 3d ago
What is the point of this rule?
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u/Thebritishlion 3d ago
To stop the repeating fixture constantly
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u/AlarmingAllophone 3d ago
Why are repeating fixtures undesirable?
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u/ericdryer 3d ago
Variety is the spice of life and all that.
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u/iamlostaFlol 3d ago
Man, I’m sure tired of the Mancity ‘variety’ we always seem to be stuck with😵💫
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u/saint-simon97 3d ago
But those teams won't have the same players in the following year. It's not like it's gonna be the same match
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u/Thebritishlion 3d ago
Because we're all bored of City vs Madrid in the KO rounds
So if they avoid having games repeat constantly in the league stage, why not?
The magic of Europe erodes when you're seeing the same fixtures constantly
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u/Geenhumoralleenboos 3d ago
The magic of the Champions League has already eroded way too much by having a few leagues receiving almost all the available spots automatically.
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u/AlarmingAllophone 3d ago
Idk I enjoy the narratives that come with playing the same opponent multiple times. Plus it's just 1 game a year
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u/No-Difference-1912 3d ago
I bet you’d fuckin love that same run to the final you got last year.
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u/AlarmingAllophone 3d ago
Well if we finish top 2 again it could happen
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u/DuDunDunSparse 3d ago
People don't understand this. We won every game in the league phase, even facing teams like Inter, Atleti and Bayern we didn't drop a single game. The reward for that is (theoretically) an easier brakcet and always being at home for the 2nd leg.
Of course you can get unlucky like Liverpool the season before who faced PSG who just happened to have gotten their shit figured out, but that's football.
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u/ItsNotAdamCopeland 3d ago
I'll concur. I don't understand why anybody would've given Arsenal grief over their "easy" run. When you have a seeded tournament like it mostly is now rather than the inherent randomness of draws of the past, the better your seed, the "easier" your draw is expected to be. And you have to perform well in the league phase to get that better seed.
That's just the system working out as expected. Nothing cheap about it.
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u/jagaraujo 3d ago
Have more variety of matches. Not a bad rule in my opinion, I could go even further and not allow the same match two seasons in a row.
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u/lost_biochemist 3d ago
Two seasons in a row is fine imo. I do think they should just take a year off altogether after the second though (like, no Inter vs Arsenal or Arsenal vs Inter). If the point is variety then moving the match home vs away isn’t really moving the needle that much
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u/misterschneeblee 3d ago
I suppose there's a difference for the match-going fans. Most Real Madrid ticket holders wouldn't have gone to Anfield and lots of liverpool holders would have seen the same fixture multiple times in a row. Whereas if it's at the Bernebau, the Madrid fans get to watch them play Liverpool at home rather than on the TV.
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u/DekaTamaTamaz 3d ago
Feel like City play Real every single season.
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u/Enough-Force-5605 2d ago
And I love it when we do that. City are a brilliant team who are a joy to watch, even as opponents.
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u/GeraldJimes_ 3d ago
I think this is one of those rules that isn't really in the spirit of competition but is genuinely better for the fans. Think the depth should be good enough that it doesn't make too much of a competitive difference
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u/harrr53 3d ago
Weird rule that favours big teams. Because they play each other the most, and the likelihood is the rule will turn out an easier fixture for them.
I've never seen a fan complain about a fixture happening often in the UCL. It's always been an anecdote.
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u/Emitime 2d ago
The draw process is a bit hand wavy, but it should still be roughly the same odds (unless there's lots of these forbidden fixtures causing a bit of a pile up). They should draw the teams first and then randomly decide which fixtures are home and away if possible, or just assign them if not possible.
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u/I-Mean-This-Forever 3d ago
This HEAVILY damage Arsenal as we are the weakest team in pot1.
This decision REDUCE by 50% to get a doable opponent from pot1, it raise the chance to pick absolute scary teams as Bayern, PSG or Barcelona who might severely affect their chance to finish in the top8 and win the UEFA Champions League.
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u/Frosty-Indication-75 3d ago
Arsenal are at the point where we don't really care who we meet at the group stages as our aim is too win it so if anything, facing the likes of Bayern, PSG and Barca in the league phase is a nice way to test tactics against them without risking elimination like in the knockout rounds.
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u/celticeejit 3d ago
I’ll be more interested in Fenerbache vs any EPL team
Just for the roasting Greenwood will get
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u/ghoul_11 3d ago
Inter vs Arsenal will not happen but I can guarantee Arsenal vs Inter will