Champions League football is taking a backseat this week despite the competition’s expansion including more games than ever before.

UEFA’s elite returned with a bang on matchday one, with fixtures spread across three days but now the schedule has changed again.

Manchester United are back playing European football on a WednesdayGetty

18 games have been played between the 36 teams so far, but organisers aren’t in a hurry to speed up the increased fixture list.

Instead, the second lot of Champions League matches won’t be held until the start of October, with another two-week break after that.

That’s not to mean there will be no European football this week, with the Europa League starting their opening round on Wednesday.

Why there are no Champions League games?

Neither the Champions League or Europa Conference League will stage fixtures this week because it’s the Europa League‘s exclusive gameweek.

Following UEFA’s revamp of all three of their club competitions, each tournament will include more teams, and by extension, matches.

However, the governing body also implanted a new system to avoid diluting the scale of European football in the bloated calendar.

All three UEFA competitions will have a single exclusive gameweek when neither of the other two tournaments have fixtures scheduled.

The idea being that the Europa League and Europa Conference League can be better highlighted and attract more eyes without having to share the spotlight or run the risk of casual fans being fatigued after two nights of Champions League action.

For the former tournament, their exclusive gameweek is on matchday one across two nights from September 25/26.

The Europa League have also been permitted to schedule half of their 18 games on Wednesday, alongside their usual Thursday slot.

Europa League teams will now get their moment in the sunAFP

From matchday’s two through to six, UEFA’s secondary tournament will then revert to Thursday nights only.

The Champions League’s exclusive gameweek was held last week, while the Europa Conference League’s one will take place on one day later in the season – Thursday, December 19.

talkSPORT will be across the three British representatives kicking off their Europa League campaigns on this special week.

Adrian Durham will present our live coverage of Manchester United‘s clash with Twente on Wednesday.

talkSPORT 2 will then be your home for Thursday’s offering, with Rangers away at Malmo before Tottenham host Qarabag.

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