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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.
