The draw for the Champions League is made on Thursday.placeholder image
The draw for the Champions League is made on Thursday. | AFP via Getty Images
Manchester City and Newcastle play their first Champions League games on a Thursday night.
Man City managed to get back to winning ways over the weekend after a poor start to the season, by winning 3-0 against rivals Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium. Goals from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden has put Pep Guardiola’s side in a much better position heading into their Champions League opener.
They face their first challenge against Napoli on Thursday at the Etihad, yes, you heard that right, Champions League games on a Thursday. UEFA are doing something different with the fixtures this year which means that City’s opener falls on a Thursday.
Why are there Champions League games on Thursday?
Last season, the Champions League changed to a ‘league phase’ format rather than the traditional group stage, and this year, UEFA are making even more changes to the format, which impacts City straight away.
For the European competitions, one exclusive week has been set aside for matches to be played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, without the disruption of the other competitions. So, the Champions League will take place on all three days this week, and there won’t be any games in the Europa League and Conference League.
Both other competitions also have exclusive weeks, where there won’t be any Champions League action. UEFA’s decision is all in aid of showcasing all three of their European competitions, hoping for more exposure on those specific weeks.
The Europa League’s ‘exclusive week’ will be two days on Wednesday 24 September and Thursday 25 September. Whereas, the Conference League’s ‘exclusive week’ will be one night, on Thursday 18 December.
Who will Man City face in the Champions League this season?
Guardiola’s side only managed to reach the knockout playoffs after finishing 22nd in the league phase last year. They fell to Real Madrid, and will be hoping for a much better season in Europe this time around.
They firstly play Napoli, before making an away trip to Monaco on October 1. Their third game will be a trip to play La Liga side Villarreal, before welcoming Borussia Dortmund to the Etihad at the start of November.
Their remaining four league phase games will see Bayer Leverkusen come to Manchester, before City head to the Bernabeu for a rematch with Real Madrid on December 10. After that, they face Norwegian minnows Bodo/Glimt in matchday seven, before welcoming Galatasaray for their final league phase game in January.
Manchester City league phase fixtures:
Man City vs Napoli - Thursday 18 September: 8pm
Monaco vs Man City - Wednesday 1 October: 8pm
Villarreal vs Man City - Tuesday 21 October: 8pm
Man City vs Borussia Dortmund - Wednesday 5 November: 8pm
Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen - Tuesday 25 November: 8pm
Real Madrid vs Man City - Wednesday 10 December: 8pm
Bodo/Glimt vs Man City - Tuesday 20 January: 5.45pm
Man City vs Galatasaray - Wednesday 28 January: 8pm
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