A first in the Champions League: Bayern celebrates a special debut | OneFootball

FC Bayern kicks off the new Champions League season with an unusual matchup. The Munich team is set to make its debut against Bodø/Glimt.

For FC Bayern, the new Champions League season begins on Thursday. To kick things off, the German record champions will host FK Bodø/Glimt at the Allianz Arena. It’s not just the opponent that’s unusual—it’s the day of the match, above all.

For the first time ever, the Munich team will play a Champions League match on a Thursday. Normally, this day of the week is reserved for the Europa League and the Conference League.

The reason for this exception lies in the schedule of the reformed Champions League. To kick things off, the Champions League is getting an exclusive European competition week and is spreading its matches across Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The other two UEFA competitions are on hiatus during this time.

Bayern to Face Their First Thursday Match in the Champions League

This results in an unusual schedule for Bayern. While most of their competitors will already be kicking off the new Champions League season on Tuesday and Wednesday, Vincent Kompany’s team will have to wait until Thursday.

Things looked different in the past two seasons. In 2025–26, Munich opened its Champions League season on a Wednesday with a 3–1 win over Chelsea FC. A year earlier, FCB kicked off on a Tuesday and celebrated a spectacular 9-2 victory over Dinamo Zagreb.

Photo: IMAGO

The unusual schedule doesn’t change the team’s objectives. Bayern enters the match against Bodø/Glimt as the clear favorite and is looking to get back to winning ways after a disappointing 0-0 draw at Schalke 04. For Kompany, however, the Norwegian opponent hadn’t been much of a focus until the weekend. When asked how much attention he had already given to Bodø/Glimt, the Bayern coach replied, “zero point zero.”

Even after the Champions League opener, the weekly schedule remains unusual. The Munich side won’t play their next Bundesliga match until Sunday at 5:30 p.m. against newly promoted SV Elversberg. This means Bayern will experience the Thursday-Sunday schedule familiar from the Europa League for a few days.

After this unusual week, however, the German record champions will return to their usual Champions League schedule.