Just last week, Arsenal discovered their opponents for the current campaign’s expanded league format, which includes eight fixtures against top European sides: Bayern Munich (home), Inter Milan (away), Atletico Madrid (home), Club Brugge (away), Olympiakos (home), Slavia Prague (away), Kairat Almaty (home), and Athletic Bilbao (away). ..Continue Reading
Among those matchups, Mikel Arteta’s squad is set to travel to Italy to face Inter Milan on January 26, 2026 — a repeat of their 2024/25 encounter at the same venue, where Arsenal fell 1-0 on matchday four.
Inter Milan, who placed fourth in last season’s league phase, advanced past Barcelona in the semi-finals before suffering a record-breaking defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the final — the heaviest loss in Champions League final history.
Arsenal, still smarting from their previous loss at the San Siro, will be eager to settle the score. However, UEFA’s newly introduced rule may block a third consecutive meeting at the same stadium.
According to UEFA’s Club Competitions Committee, starting from the 2026/27 season, no fixture between the same two clubs can be hosted by the same team three years in a row in the same competition. This means that although Arsenal will visit the San Siro again in January 2026, a repeat in the following season would violate the new regulation.
This adjustment aims to ensure greater fairness and variety in match scheduling, especially as the Champions League continues to evolve under its new 36-team league format.
The website adds: “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 (although, for the sake of clarity, those teams could still be drawn against each other at the venue of the other team)”.
In short, if they were pitted against each other next campaign, then the game would take place at the Emirates.
This rule change would also stop Real Madrid from playing Liverpool at Anfield in the 2026/27 Champions League league phase.
Arsenal, who are yet to announce their squad list for the competition’s league phase, have until 24:00 CET on Tuesday, September 2 to do the needful.
“Every club must submit two lists of players, including details such as shirt number, date of birth and nationality,” the UEFA website reads.
“In addition, the lists must include confirmation by the club’s doctor that all players have undergone the requested medical examination. List A needs to be submitted to the relevant association to be verified, validated and forwarded to UEFA by 24:00 CET on Tuesday 2 September. The same process applies to List B (more details below), which must be submitted no later than 24:00 CET the day before each match.”
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