EXPLAINED: Why Champions League games are played on Thursday in new look format

2 months ago 9

Football fans will be treated to the rare occurrence of having Champions League games on Thursday night
Thursday is usually preserved for Europa and Conference League matches, but the likes of Arsenal will play on September 19
The changes are part of the new intricate system that has four extra teams that UEFA rolled out this season

The new Champions League format started this week with a section of fans still grappling with how the whole process will work.

The new system includes a single league, in which each team will play eight matches—four at home and four away.

Antonio Rudiger, Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappe, Why are Champions League games played on Thursday?

Record champions Real Madrid got the ball rolling with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Stuttgart on Tuesday before 2023 finalists Manchester City and Inter Milan played out to a barren draw on Wednesday.

One of the other changes in the new system is that we will have Champions League fixtures on Thursday. Barcelona and Arsenal are expected to begin their campaign later today.

Why are Champions League games being played on Thursday?

But why do we have Champions League games on Thursday? In the previous system, Thursday was preserved for Europa and Conference League matches. So much so that that football banter always revolved around 'Thursday football merchants' for teams who play in the second and third tier of European club competitions.

Why is Arsenal playing on Thursday?

UEFA has set aside one week to be exclusive for each of the club competitions they have in this new system. This means that in these 'exclusive weeks,' only one cup competition will be played. This, in essence, explains why we don't have Europa and Conference League games this week.

The Europa League has its exclusive period next week, while Conference League teams will play alone the week starting December 16. As Metro UK reports, UEFA intends to draw attention to its less premium competitions with this new format.

Will we have Champions League fixtures every Thursday?

At the moment, no. The exclusive weeks are a one-off thing unless something else happens that forces UEFA to change their schedules. After match day one, we will revert to the usual Tuesday and Wednesday night for Champions League games.

Does this affect any team?

In a way, yes. Arsenal will feel hard done by this new Thursday scheduling. The Gunners are away to Atalanta and will have less than 48 hours to recover and prepare for their high-stakes clash at the Etihad on Sunday.