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Why is the Champions League played on Thursday? The first round of the new edition of Europe's best club competition started yesterday evening and will end in spectacular fashion on Thursday evening. This is just one of the many innovations that UEFA has introduced starting from the new football season, with the revolution of the format of the three club competitions par excellence: the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League.
Having said that all the tournaments have moved to a new formula with 36 participating teams and a single group, the impact of this little big revolution will also be visible in the calendar. Not only will the first stage matches be played until January (this for the Champions League and Europa League, with 8 matches for each team), but there will be weeks dedicated exclusively to each of the three events.
Considering the increase in teams and consequently the increase in matches, the need arose for UEFA to find new windows to play the matches. Thus, the first change concerns the arrangement of the first phase in the calendar: the Champions League and Europa League matches will start in September and the first phase will close with two days to be played in January, while the Liga of Conferences will end in December.
In addition, each of the three competitions will have an "exclusive" week, and for the Champions League it was the debut week. For this reason, these days only the matches of the highest European competition for clubs are being played, with a program spread over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, while the other competitions have not yet started.
Unlike the Champions League, the Europa League will be played in its exclusive week on Wednesday and Thursday, while the Conference League will only be played on Thursday. But when exactly do these days fall?
Why is the Champions League played on Thursday? Calendar of the first phase
Starting with the UEFA Champions League, it is the opening round of the competition that spans three different days. This is the calendar of challenges in the first phase:
Day 1: 17–19 September 2024 (exclusive week)
Second day: 1/2 October 2024
Day three: 22/23 October 2024
Day Four: 5/6 November 2024
Match day five: 26/27 November 2024
Matchday six: 10/11 December 2024
Day seven: January 21/22, 2025
Match Day Eight: January 29, 2025
Why is the Champions League played on Thursday? Europa League and Conference League
Moving on to the UEFA Europa League, even in this case it will be the opening round of the tournament that will be spread over two days and "solo". This is the calendar of challenges in the first phase:
First day: 25-26 September 2024 (exclusive week)
Day two: October 3, 2024
Day three: October 24, 2024
Day Four: November 7, 2024
Match day five: November 28, 2024
Matchday six: December 12, 2024
Day seven: January 23, 2025
Match day eight: 30 January 2025
Finally, the UEFA Conference League, for which it will be the last round that will be played without "interference" from the two major competitions. This is the calendar of the competition in the first phase:
First day: October 3, 2024
Day two: October 24, 2024
Day three: November 7, 2024
Day Four: November 28, 2024
Match day five: December 12, 2024
Matchday six: 19 December 2024 (exclusive week)
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