Why Champions League Games Take Place On Thursday? Here's What You Need To Know

The return of the Champions League has promised to be an exciting affair as 36 teams will be vying for the coveted title. Arsenal and Real Madrid will open their Champions League campaign on Tuesday, while teams like Liverpool and defending champions PSG will kick off their journey on Wednesday.

Why There Are Champions League Matches On Thursdays

Usually, the Champions League has been a Tuesday-Wednesday affair, and Thursday has been designated for the Europa Conference League and Europa League. But this season, Manchester City and Barcelona will face their opponents on Thursday. In the revamped format, 36 teams will be playing eight games each on a home and away format, but the decision to introduce matches on Thursday is not because of the fixture congestion.

UEFA has allocated one exclusive week for all three competitions, which means there will not be any Europa Conference League and Europa League matches this week. The Europa League will have its matches set for next week when games will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.

A total of 189 matches will be played throughout the league phase, up from 125 last season.

Arsenal Will Be One Of The Favourites In Champions League

The focus will be on Arsenal, and Mikel Arteta will be determined to end their quest for a long-awaited Champions League title. They did manage to defeat Real Madrid in the quarterfinals last time, but couldn't manage to get past PSG in the last four. The addition of Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Modueke is expected to hand the North Londoners a huge flexibility as they kick off their campaign against Athletic Bilbao. Following a stupendous summer spending, the Gunners won't have an excuse this time if they fail to live up to the expectations.

Also Read: 'This Is An Isolated Situation': Ex-Manchester United Star Rio Ferdinand Ends The Erling Haaland vs Kylian Mbappe Debate With Blunt Remark

Champions League Thursday Fixtures

Copenhagen vs Bayer Leverkusen.
Club Brugge vs Monaco.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Galatasaray.
Sporting vs Kairat Almaty.
Newcastle vs Barcelona.
Manchester City vs Napoli.

Also Read: Champions League: Arsenal, Real Madrid In Action, Juventus To Face Tricky Borussia Dortmund Test On Match Day 1