Europa League: Why are Celtic and Nottingham Forest playing on Wednesday?

The 2025-26 Europa League gets fully under way this week – with the unusual format of nine matches taking place on Wednesday night.

Nottingham Forest and Celtic are among the 18 teams in action on the opening night, while Aston Villa and Rangers begin their campaigns in the more traditional Thursday night slot.

Much like the Champions League’s return last week, the upcoming matches are part of an exclusive week for the Europa League, with no Champions League or Conference League fixtures scheduled.

Traditionally, all matches in the competition take place on a Thursday night. That will remain the case throughout the rest of the Europa League season.

The exclusive week of matches for all three of Europe’s club competitions started last season and have remained in place this term.

The ‘exclusive’ concept allows Uefa to showcase its major European competitions and give all three editions their own sole focus.

While the Champions League’s exclusive round took place last week, the Conference League’s final round of league phase matches on Thursday, 18 December, are also being played as an exclusive match week.