Arsenal cannot be drawn away to Inter Milan in 2026–27 Champions League league phase

Arsenal will not be drawn to play Inter Milan away in the UEFA Champions League 2026–27 league phase because a UEFA rule bars the same club from hosting the same opponent for three consecutive seasons.

Arsenal were runners-up in the 2025–26 competition, losing the final to PSG on penalties. The restriction originates from a UEFA Club Competitions Committee regulation 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.” UEFA introduced this modification to the draw process to prevent a fixture returning to the same host after it has occurred twice in succession.

Over the past two seasons the clubs met twice in the league phase, with both matches played at the San Siro. In the league phase of 2024–25 Arsenal were defeated 1-0 at Inter Milan’s stadium. In January of the 2025–26 season they triumphed 3-1 there.

Under the Committee’s wording, a club that hosted the same opponent in the competition’s league phase in both 2024–25 and 2025–26 cannot host that opponent again in 2026–27. Because Inter hosted Arsenal in successive league phases, Inter cannot be the home side if the two are drawn together in the 2026–27 league phase. The rule targets repeated home fixtures across consecutive seasons rather than preventing the fixture itself.

The two clubs can still be drawn against each other in the 2026–27 league phase provided Arsenal are the designated home team. Alternatively, they could meet later in the knockout stages of the competition. Venue limitations of this nature do not apply in the knockout rounds.

As a result, any league-phase meeting between Arsenal and Inter in 2026–27 would have to be played at Arsenal’s home ground, or the clubs could face one another in the knockout stages where the hosting restriction is not in force.