{"id":78380,"date":"2025-05-06T05:56:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T05:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/78380\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T05:56:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T05:56:24","slug":"when-trent-alexander-arnold-could-return-to-liverpool-after-controversial-uefa-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/78380\/","title":{"rendered":"When Trent Alexander-Arnold could return to Liverpool after controversial UEFA change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trent Alexander-Arnold could soon find himself returning to Liverpool depending on next season’s Champions League draws\"TrentTrent Alexander-Arnold warms up ahead of Liverpool vs Real Madrid at Anfield on November 27, 2024 in Liverpool, England.(Image: Michael Regan – UEFA\/UEFA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Trent Alexander-Arnold insisted he would be back at Liverpool one day when confirming his decision to leave the club at the end of his contract. The Reds vice-captain is expected to join Real Madrid on a free transfer after opting against signing an extension with his boyhood club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe love I have for this club will never leave. It will never diminish. I’ll love it forever,\u201d he said in his own video explaining his decision on social media. \u201cI’ll forever be in debt to the club and the fans for everything they’ve done for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there’s no doubt about it, I’ll be back. Any chance I get, I’ll come, watch games, I’ll be supporting.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: What the ECHO learned about Trent Alexander-Arnold exit and how Liverpool lost battle to Real Madrid<\/a>READ MORE: Trent Alexander-Arnold story about to change as Liverpool move comes at a cost<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI will be wanting the club to win, wanting the club to be successful. There’s nothing changing in that. I will always remain a Liverpool fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, when speaking to club media, he shared his desire to bring his future kids back to Anfield<\/a> one day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about it, I\u2019ll be back,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d love one day to be able to bring my kids to Anfield and show them that that\u2019s where I\u2019ve played and show them the videos and highlights of what we were able to achieve together.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while Alexander-Arnold<\/a> might already be dreaming about returning to Liverpool <\/a>as a fan one day, he could make a comeback as an opponent even sooner.<\/p>\n

Should the England international join Real Madrid, as expected, it is possible that he could find himself facing off against his soon-to-be former side in next season\u2019s Champions League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Reds hosted the La Liga giants in the inaugural edition of the revamped league phase, with Arne Slot\u2019s side running out 2-0 winners back in November.<\/p>\n

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Liverpool ECHO front page. Liverpool champions. April 28, 2025<\/p>\n

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Both sides were seeded in pot one last summer and while that would have previously kept them apart until the knock-out stages, teams face two sides from each of the four pots in the new format.<\/p>\n

Consequently, there is nothing stopping Liverpool from being drawn against Real Madrid again – either at Anfield or the Bernabeu – in next season\u2019s league phase.<\/p>\n

Both sides have already secured their place in the 2025\/26 edition of the Champions League, and look set to be seeded in pot one once again due to their current UEFA coefficient scores.<\/a><\/p>\n

The league phase draw for the next season\u2019s Champions League will take place in Monaco on August 28.<\/p>\n

And while Liverpool will have to wait until then to find out their eight opponents, the dates for next season\u2019s league phase matches have already been confirmed – setting up when a potential Alexander-Arnold reunion with the Reds could possibly take place.<\/p>\n

Matchday one will take place between Tuesday 16 September and Thursday 18 September, with matchday two following two weeks later on Tuesday 30 September and Wednesday 1 October.<\/p>\n

Matchday three is scheduled for Tuesday 21 October and Wednesday 22 October, with there then being another fortnight\u2019s break before matchday four on Tuesday 4 November and Wednesday 5 November.<\/p>\n

Later that month, matchday five will take place on Tuesday 25 November and Wednesday 26 November, before matchday six falls on Tuesday 9 December and Wednesday 10 December.<\/p>\n

The final two gameweeks are then scheduled for successive weeks in January 2026, with matchday seven taking place on Tuesday 20 January and Wednesday 21 January.<\/p>\n

The league phase will then conclude with gameweek eight on Wednesday 28 January.<\/p>\n

Of course, it is by no means guaranteed that Liverpool will be drawn against Real Madrid in the league phase.<\/p>\n

But following its conclusion, they will then have a better idea of if and when they could then face the La Liga giants in the knockout stages with final league phase position dictating which side of the draw each side then finds themselves.<\/p>\n

Liverpool and Real Madrid have been regular foes in the Champions League in recent years, facing off seven times in the past seven years – including in two finals.<\/p>\n

With UEFA controversially implementing the new revamped league phase last year in a bid to set up more meetings between the continent\u2019s elite sides, the stage is set for the Reds and Los Merengues to face off again in the future.<\/p>\n

As a result, Alexander-Arnold will no doubt have an even closer eye on every future Champions League draw as the possibility of a future showdown with Liverpool awaits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trent Alexander-Arnold could soon find himself returning to Liverpool depending on next season’s Champions League drawsTrent Alexander-Arnold warms…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,763,8935,8467,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-78380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-liverpool-fc","13":"tag-trent-alexander-arnold","14":"tag-uefa-champions-league","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114459350375701082","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}