Why are Arsenal playing in the Champions League on a Thursday?

Arsenal have re-established themselves as Champions League regulars - but their latest European campaign will still begin on a Thursday.

Mikel Arteta is set to oversee the Gunners' second successive season in UEFA's elite competition after ending the club's six-year absence.

Arsenal are in Champions League action after their north London derby triumph

Arsenal are in Champions League action after their north London derby 

The north Londoners crashed out at the quarter-final stage in April following a 1-0 loss away at Bayern Munich.

Arsenal will start their bid to go one better this year with a trip to Bergamo to take on Atalanta in their opening game fixture.

However, the game, which will be live on talkSPORT, won't be taking place on either of the Champions League's typical midweek slots.

The unique fixture tweak comes amid a pivotal point in the club's season, with a 1-0 win away at rivals Tottenham on Sunday and a trip to the Etihad to take on title rivals Manchester City next weekend.

Why are Arsenal playing on Thursday?

The Gunners are involved in one of the six fixtures not taking place on either Tuesday or Wednesday as part of a UEFA revamp.

Instead of the usual 32 teams, 36 sides are involved in the Champions League this season and they will take part in a single league phase.

Both of UEFA's other two competitions, the Europa League and Europa Conference League, are following this revamped system as well.

The increasingly bloated European calendar raises the risk that certain matches or even tournaments could be overlooked.

To combat this, UEFA have confirmed that all three of their competitions will have a single exclusive gameweek when neither of the other two have fixtures scheduled.

For the Champions League, this is on Matchday One and the 18 fixtures will be spread evenly across three nights from September 17-19.

Atalanta won the Europa League after Lookman's incredible hat-trick

Atalanta won the Europa League after Lookman's incredible hat-trickCredit: Getty

Champions League changes

Arsenal - who had already seen their two Premier League clashes either side of their European opener moved to Sunday for TV coverage - discovered in August they would be playing on Thursday.

Champions League Matchday Two to Seven will have nine games on Tuesday and nine on Wednesday.

The final round of fixtures will see all 18 matches kick off simultaneously at 8pm on Wednesday 29 January, 2025.

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Atalanta vs Arsenal: talkSPORT coverage

This Champions League game takes place on Thursday, September 19.