Arsenal will be barred from playing Slavia Prague on Czech soil in the 2026-27 Champions League due to a UEFA ruling. The rule, introduced in last season's regulations, prohibits the same home side from being drawn against the same opponent in the league phase for three successive years.
The Gunners are set to face Slavia Prague at Fortuna Arena on Wednesday, a rematch of their November 2025 encounter at the same ground, which saw a Bukayo Saka penalty and a Mikel Merino brace secure a 3-0 victory.
UEFA Rule Change
Paragraph 16.03 of last season's Champions League regulations states: "UEFA administration may determine alternative conditions for the draw in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee and may adapt any of the conditions of the draw to avoid deadlock situations and/or take into account any relevant constraints in light of decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee."
The UEFA Club Competitions Committee has determined an additional condition applicable to the 2026/27 draw, deciding 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.
This means that if teams that played each other in the league phase in 2024/25 are again drawn together with the same home team in 2025/26, they cannot be drawn with the same home team in 2026/27.
Arsenal's Champions League Campaign
Arsenal are looking to return to winning form in the Champions League after a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich. Having fallen short of claiming the trophy for the first time in their history last season, Arteta remains upbeat following their win over Liverpool.
"Just loving the mission," the Arsenal boss said of the Anfield victory. "And the mission was something that we didn't accomplish in 14 years. And there were reasons for that. Some of them were psychological problems. Some of them were related to the quality that we showed on the pitch, certain moments or decisions."
"And we knew that we need to nail absolutely all of them. And we're going to have to navigate through periods that we're going to have to suffer because they are extremely good at doing that and creating those vertical attacks, those chaos moments for almost nothing. And you really need to enjoy that."
"If you don't, there will be a moment they will switch up and they will punish you. And yeah, I think the way we competed and played and the chances that we generated as well, it was really impressive. So I'm really happy."
Arsenal face Slavia Prague in the Champions League on November 4, with the match available live on TNT Sports.
