Thursday night football is not normally associated with the UEFA Champions League — but this week is the exception. Manchester United, Bayern Munich, and AS Roma are among the clubs taking to the pitch on a Thursday evening as part of a deliberate scheduling innovation introduced into the revamped competition.

What is the exclusive week?

Under the current format of the men's UEFA Champions League, one dedicated week per season is reserved for the competition to operate exclusively across Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. During this window, no UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League fixtures are scheduled, giving the Champions League the undivided attention of European football audiences.

This season, that exclusive week falls on matchday one of the league phase, with matches spread across 8, 9, and 10 September.

Six matches on Thursday

Six Champions League ties are scheduled for this Thursday evening. Fenerbahce host AS Roma and PSV Eindhoven take on Shakhtar Donetsk, both kicking off at 17:45 BST. The later 20:00 BST slots feature Bayern Munich against Bodo/Glimt, Como 1907 versus RB Leipzig, Manchester United facing Sabah FK, and Slavia Prague meeting Lens.

How the rest of the season looks

Outside of the exclusive week, fans can expect the familiar routine to resume — Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, with Europa League and Conference League action on Thursdays. That standard format will be the norm again throughout 2026-27.

The exclusive week concept was introduced two seasons ago and has been carried forward. UEFA uses it to spotlight each of its three major men's club competitions in turn. The UEFA Europa League's exclusive week runs across Wednesday, 16 September and Thursday, 17 September. The UEFA Conference League gets its own spotlight on Thursday, 17 December — a single evening, but one uncontested by any other European fixture on the Tuesday or Wednesday of that week.