Why are there Europa League matches on Wednesday?

Sunderland will make their first European appearance since November 1973 when they host Dutch side AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday in the Europa League [Getty Images] The opening round of league phase matches in the 2026-27 Europa League campaign start on Wednesday evening, a day earlier than the competition's usual slot. Typically, fixtures in both the Europa League and Conference League are played on Thursday nights. Some exceptions are made during the season in scenarios where fixture clashes with other European matches in a similar geographical area means games can be rescheduled. But on Wednesday, nine of the 18 games scheduled in match week one of the Europa League's league phase are taking place. The other nine will be played on Thursday during the Europa League's dedicated game week of the season, where Champions League and Conference League fixtures are not played. Celtic, Sunderland, AC Milan, Benfica and Lyon are among the teams that are in action on Wednesday. The Champions League also has an exclusive week, which takes place in the opening round of fixtures. Last week saw games in Europe's top tier league taking place across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Conference League also gets it own designated week. However, this takes place in December in the final round of league phase matches. This first happened in the 2024-25 season when, like the Champions League and Conference League, the competition was re-formatted into a league phase system. What are the Europa League matches on Wednesday? All kick-offs 20:00 BST unless stated Omonia vs Celtic (17:45 BST) Ararat-Armenia vs Sparta Prague (17:45 BST) Olympiakos vs Jagiellonia Bialystok Anderlecht vs Lyon Bayer Leverkusen vs Celje Sunderland vs AZ Alkmaar AC Milan vs Benfica Sturm Graz vs Rennes Hapoel Beer-Sheva vs Dinamo Zagreb This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team. More questions answered... What are the Premier League rules on yellow card suspensions? How many times has a Premier League gameweek had no home wins? What is the Premier League's KMI Panel and how does it work? Why have the Premier League announced Christmas fixtures early?