This week, Champions League teams will be in action on a night that has traditionally belonged to the Europa League — but what is the reason for it?

On Thursday night, six Champions League fixtures are scheduled, despite Thursday usually being associated with Europa League football.

As they return to European competition, Manchester United will host Sabah FK — the champions of Azerbaijan, who are appearing in the Champions League for the first time — this Thursday.

The Red Devils have become used in recent years to hearing the Europa League anthem on a Thursday, but this time they will instead walk out to the Champions League music. So why has that happened?

The competition has not moved matches to Thursday because of fixture congestion or scheduling problems involving league phase teams. Quite simply, the Champions League has been given a week of its own in the spotlight.

With both the Europa League and the Conference League yet to begin, the Champions League has been given a free run to stage fixtures on Thursday as well.

This is a one-off, exclusive week — from here on, the Champions League will return to playing only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

These exclusive weeks, where one of UEFA’s European competitions is separated from the usual scheduling overlap with the others, have been in place since the 2024/25 season.

Since then, the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League have each been allocated one week in which their own competition can take centre stage.

Last season, the same arrangement was used for the Champions League during the opening matchweek of the tournament. The dates for the exclusive weeks for the Europa League and Conference League have still not been announced.

Away from Old Trafford, five more matches will also take place this Thursday. Last season’s semi-finalists Bayern Munich will host Bodo/Glimt, while Como will take on RB Leipzig at home.

Eredivisie champions PSV will face Shakhtar Donetsk, Slavia Prague will meet Lens, and Super Lig challengers Fenerbahce — who eliminated Lyon in qualifying and triggered a sequence of events that eventually led to Malick Fofana’s move to the Premier League — will play Roma.

Teams in the league phase can gain from a long list of incentives, with the rewards increasing the higher they finish in the Champions League table, as the tournament begins this Tuesday evening.