Exclusive week: why is matchday one of the 2024/25 Champions League over three days?

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League is just around the corner, with the opening matches of the ‘new and improved’ tournament taking place on Tuesday, September 17.

How does the 2024/25 Champions League work? Format explained

For the first time, 36 teams will take part in the first round, which is now a ‘league phase’ rather than the ‘group stage’ we’re all so accustomed to. The Swiss model system means teams will play against seven different opponents either home or away, and be ranked in a 36-club table once they have played those eight fixtures.

The top eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16, clubs finishing 9th to 16th will be seeded for the playoff round and face those ranked 17th to 24th, who will be unseeded. The bottom 12 teams will be eliminated.

The initial draw for the first ever league phase threw up some eye-catching ties, including Liverpool against Real Madrid at Anfield, Manchester City away to Juventus, Barcelona versus Bayern Munich in Catalonia and Arsenal hosting Paris Saint-Germain.

Champions League games to be played on Thursday

The dates for the matchday one games will be released on Saturday, August 31 and, unusually, the fixtures will take place across three nights: Tuesday, September 17, Wednesday, September 18 and Thursday, September 19.

For as long as most of us can remember, the Champions League has been played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, with Europa League (and later Conference League) Games held on Thursdays.

That will generally continue to be the case, but as part of UEFA’s revamp, each comPetition will have an ‘exclusive week’ in which it will take centre stage. For both the Champions League and the Europa League, that will be matchday one of the league phase.

What and when is ‘exclusive week’ in the 2024/25 Champions League?

In the UCL, the opening games will be played on Tuesday, September 17, Wednesday, September 18 and Thursday, September 19, as mentioned. There will be no Europa or Conference League fixtures that week.

The Europa League will headline the following week, with Games taking place on Wednesday, September 25 and Thursday, September 26, rather than only on Thursday, as is normally the case. There will be no Champions League Games that week.

The Conference League’s exclusive week actually only takes place on one day, Thursday, December 19, which is when matchday six of the league phase will be held. As you might have guessed, there won’t be any Champions League or Europa League fixtures that week.