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The Champions League is back for 2024/25 and Arsenal head to Bergamo to kick-off their continental campaign, but there is one unusual aspect about their first fixture.
In fact, given it’s an entirely new format for the European calendar after Uefa’s sweeping reforms of how the elite clubs will compete, there’s lots which is unusual, starting with the fact this is one of eight league-phase fixtures the Gunners will play, rather than six.
They are also playing only eight opponents out of 36, play each of them only once and will be vying for a spot in the top 24 at a minimum, so there’s plenty to get used to from this point onwards in the Champions League.
However, one of the most notable changes is one which affects Arsenal on the very first matchday: rather than the usual Tuesday or Wednesday slot, Mikel Arteta’s men face Atalanta on a Thursday.
There’s a good reason for it though, which Uefa confirmed at the draw ceremony a few weeks ago, when the Gunners were paired with the likes of PSG and Shakhtar Donetsk, as well as their Serie A opponents first up.
To spread focus around the other competitions - the Europa League and Conference League are both following the wider format of one enormous league system from this year - Uefa declared that each competition will have a single gameweek when they are the only European competition playing, allowing for more matches to be highlighted and fans to tune in midweek to those competitions when they might otherwise not have done so after already seeing Champions League games the previous two evenings.
As such, rather than nine games on Tuesday and nine on Wednesday - which will be the case for matchday two on 1 and 2 October, then again for matchdays three to seven - the first round of games in the Champions League will be split across three nights.
All three will see six matches played, with the Gunners’ Premier League rivals Liverpool and Aston Villa in action on Tuesday 17 September, Manchester City playing a day later and Arsenal themselves facing Atalanta on Thursday 19 September.
The only other gameweek which differs from the Tuesday-Wednesday format is the final one, gameweek eight, where all 18 matches will kick off simultaneously at 8pm GMT on Wednesday 29 January, 2025.
By then, the Gunners will hope to have sealed their passage at least into the play-off round, but perhaps also snaring a top-eight finish in the league to proceed directly into the last-16 knockouts without need of the playoff.
