Thursday night Champions League matches featuring Manchester City and Newcastle United - what's the reason behind it?
The 2025-26 season of the Champions League and Europa League is set to begin with a twist, as several matches will be held on Thursday nights instead of the traditional Tuesday and Wednesday slots.
UEFA has made changes to the scheduling of their three continental cup competitions, moving six Champions League games to Thursday, September 18. This decision was made to avoid a week without midweek European football and to maximize TV rights revenue. As a result, Manchester City and Newcastle United will play their opening Champions League games on a Thursday night this season.
On this Thursday, Brugge will face Monaco, while Manchester City will take on Napoli, and Newcastle United will play against Barcelona. Other teams involved in the Thursday night fixtures include Brugge, Monaco, FC Copenhagen against Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting against Kairat, Eintracht Frankfurt against Galatasaray, and Nottingham Forest against Real Betis.
The Champions League games in the first week are not held on Thursday nights due to scheduling, but other competitions, such as the Europa League and Conference League, are usually held on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. However, due to the absence of Champions League or Conference League football that week, the Europa League will have games on both Wednesday and Thursday, September 24.
Celtic will visit Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) on Wednesday, September 24, and Nottingham Forest will also play against Real Betis on the same day. The first week of the Champions League league phase begins before the Europa League equivalent, meaning that the Champions League games will be held on Thursday nights this season and the previous one as well.
This shift in schedule is not a new phenomenon. Last season, Arsenal was the only English side affected by the scheduling changes. Thursday nights are typically reserved for the Europa League and the Conference League, with other competitions, such as the Europa League and Conference League, usually held on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
The opening weeks of the Champions League and Europa League will have games exclusively in September, marking the start of an exciting season of European football.
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