Europa League Kicks Off with Unique Wednesday Matches
The 2025-26 Europa League officially begins this week, featuring an unusual schedule with nine matches taking place on Wednesday evening.
Among the 18 teams participating on the opening night are Nottingham Forest and Celtic, while Aston Villa and Rangers will start their campaigns in the more traditional Thursday night slot.
Similar to last week's Champions League kickoff, the upcoming matches are part of a dedicated week for the Europa League, with no Champions League or Conference League fixtures scheduled.
Traditionally, all matches in the Europa League occur on Thursday nights, a format that will continue throughout the remainder of the season.
This dedicated week of matches for all three of Europe's club competitions was introduced last season and has been retained this year.
The 'exclusive' concept allows UEFA to highlight its major European tournaments, ensuring that each competition receives focused attention.
While the Champions League held its exclusive round last week, the Conference League will also feature its final league phase matches on Thursday, December 18, as part of an exclusive match week.
Wednesday's Europa League Matches
Nine Europa League matches are scheduled for this Wednesday:
Midtjylland vs. Sturm Graz (17:45 BST)
PAOK vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv (17:45 BST)
Dinamo Zagreb vs. Fenerbahce (20:00 BST)
Red Star Belgrade vs. Celtic (20:00 BST)
Freiburg vs. Basel (20:00 BST)
Malmo vs. Ludogorets Razgrad (20:00 BST)
Nice vs. Roma (20:00 BST)
Real Betis vs. Nottingham Forest (20:00 BST)
Braga vs. Feyenoord (20:00 BST)
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