Why Arsenal's Champions League match has been moved to Thursday night

The Champions League returns this week, but some fans may be confused if they see their team in action on a Thursday - the same day that the Europa League often takes place.

Arsenal are back in Champions League action this week – but fans may be wondering why they kick off the campaign on a Thursday.

The Gunners begin their European journey with a tricky away trip against Europa League winners Atalanta. But unusually for the Champions League, the game is not taking place in the traditional Tuesday or Wednesday evening slot.

These two days have become custom in the competition dates - but the two teams will face off on Thursday evening instead. Not only is it unusually, it's also potentially problematic for Arsenal with a trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City booked in for the Sunday.

With City in action in the Champions League on Wednesday night, it gives Mikel Arteta's title rivals an extra 24 hours to prepare. However, there's a real – good or otherwise – why Arsenal are in action on Thursday.

As part of the new league structure, UEFA has declared that each of their three tournaments will have a unique matchweek during which games from the other two competitions will not take place, reports the Mirror.

This exclusive period has been named as matchweek 1 for the Champions League, meaning that only UCL fixtures will be played this week. UEFA has chosen to distribute the matches over three days instead of the usual two, meaning games will be held on Thursday.

However, this unique game week is a one-off and won't be repeated. Both the Europa League and Europa Conference League will also have their exclusive weeks for matches.

Liran Froind, Co-Founder at Ticket-Compare, added: "Arsenal’s upcoming Champions League match against Atalanta, scheduled for Thursday, September 19, comes at an unusual time due to UEFA's new scheduling format.

"While it’s an interesting shift for fans, this match may not carry the same excitement as their fixture against PSG on October 1 at the Emirates.

"With larger clashes looming, such as the match against Manchester City just days after the Atalanta game, this Thursday fixture might feel more like a scheduling quirk than a key moment in their season."

The Champions League revamp doesn't end there. As previously mentioned, teams will play eight group matches, evenly split between home and away, but each tie will be against a different team. Instead of the traditional eight groups, each team has been placed into a single league structure. The top eight finishers will automatically qualify for the round of 16.

Teams finishing from ninth to 24th will enter a two-legged knock-out phase. If they win, they'll progress to face one of the waiting teams. Teams that fall to 25th place or lower out of the 36 will be eliminated outright from the competition, with no option to drop down to lesser tournaments as in previous years.

Mikel Arteta's Gunners aren't the only English side in action this week as they head to Bergamo. Aston Villa are off to Switzerland to face Young Boys in an earlier 17:45 kick off on Tuesday, while Liverpool are set to play AC Milan later that evening.

Manchester City will also welcome Inter Milan, whom they faced in the final two years ago, on Wednesday night. All 500 of this year's Champions League fixtures will be broadcasted by TNT Sports.

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