The Champions League is back for another season – with 12 of the teams competing in the 2025/26 edition starting their campaigns on Thursday this week.
This is particularly unusual as Tuesday and Wednesday are traditionally designated for the Champions League, with Europa League and Conference League matches being played on a Thursday instead.
Newcastle and Manchester City are amongst the sides who will get their first taste of European football this season on Thursday, with the Premier League duo taking on Barcelona and Napoli respectively.
You might suspect that the increase in fixtures courtesy of the revamped format of the competition has brought about this change. But that’s not actually the case.
Why six Champions League games will be played on Thursday
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The switch from the 32-team group stage to the 36-team league phase means that the number of Champions League matches has risen from 125 to 189.
But the Thursday fixtures have nothing to do with the congested schedule.
Rather, UEFA have decided that each of their three competitions will have an exclusive matchweek this season with no fixtures from the other two, with the week of September 16-18 allocated to the UCL.
This has been done because UEFA are keen to draw more focus to their less premium competitions.
The Europa League’s exclusive week is on Wednesday, September 24 and Thursday, September 25, whilst the Conference League’s exclusive matchday is taking place solely on Thursday, December 18.
Will there be more Champions League games on Thursday?
No. This is the only time this season that Champions League games will be played on a Thursday.
Aside from the exclusive weeks, the format for European games is the same as prior years with the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Europa League and Conference League on Thursday.
Champions League fixtures
Tuesday, September 16
- PSV vs Union Saint-Gilloise – 5.45pm
- Athletic Club vs Arsenal – 5.45pm
- Juventus vs Dortmund – 8pm
- Benfica vs Qarabag – 8pm
- Tottenham vs Villarreal – 8pm
- Real Madrid vs Marseille – 8pm
Wednesday, September 17
- Olympiacos vs Pafos – 5.45pm
- Slavia Praha vs Bodo/Glimt – 5.45pm
- Bayern vs Chelsea – 8pm
- PSG vs Atalanta – 8pm
- Ajax vs Inter – 8pm
- Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid – 8pm
Thursday, September 18
- Copenhagen vs Bayer Leverkusen – 5.45pm
- Club Brugge vs Monaco – 5.45pm
- Eintracht Frankfurt vs Galatasaray – 8pm
- Sporting vs Kairat Almaty – 8pm
- Newcastle vs Barcelona – 8pm
- Manchester City vs Napoli – 8pm
What about the early kick-offs?
The 5.45pm kick-off slot was introduced by UEFA for its club competitions in 2021.
This staggering of kick-off times enables viewers to be able to watch more games, whilst also being more beneficial to TV broadcasters.
The move hasn’t been universally popular, however, with one common complaint being that fans commuting home from work often miss the start of the match on TV.
The early start also leaves little time for match-going supporters to reach the stadium on time after work – and not to mention the fact they are often travelling during peak public transport times.
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