Why is Arsenal vs Man City on the same day as the Champions League?
REVEALED: Arsenal and Man City FINALLY meet in a Premier League title showdown tonight… but why are they playing at the same time as Champions League last-16 ties?
- Arsenal will host Man City in a massive game for the Premier League title race
- They were due to go head-to-head on October 19, but the game was postponed
- Now the clash will bizarrely take place during Champions League gameweek
Premier League leaders Arsenal will host Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City this evening in a huge game for the title race – but many fans will be puzzled by the date of the clash.
The highly-anticipated showdown will take place during same evening as the Champions League last-16 stage – the same day as rivals Chelsea take on Borussia Dortmund while Scott Parker’s Club Brugge host Benfica.
The game was originally due to take place on Wednesday, October 19, but due to a fixture pile-up, the teams have been forced to fit the crucial game into their schedules in midweek.
UEFA is normally against the idea of having a Premier League game on the same day as the Champions League.
However, UEFA have made an exception this time after the Premier League did the European governing body a favour earlier this season with scheduling after their Europa League game against PSV had to be re-arranged.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will play Manchester City in the Premier League this evening
Arsenal vs City will take place on the same day as the Champions League last-16 stage
Arteta’s side were meant to play PSV on Thursday, September 15 but was postponed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II – who passed away on September 8.
With vast amounts of police being sent to Buckingham Palace around the time of the Queen’s death, it was determined that the game couldn’t go ahead safely and the two clubs agreed to pursue an alternate date – with the Gunners eager to avoid forfeiting the fixture.
UEFA crammed all of their group-stage matches in the Europa League between September and November – making their fixture schedule even tighter.
Eventually, the organisation decided to re-arrange the game for October 20 – with opportunities to play the fixture before the World Cup becoming increasingly slim.
Arsenal’s re-arranged fixture with PSV took place on October 19, with the Gunners winning 1-0
City and Arsenal have already played each other this year, with City winning 1-0 in the FA Cup
However, that meant that both Arsenal and City had to agree to move their showdown to another date – with the original set to take place just one day before.
Arteta’s side would go on to win the game against PSV 1-0 thanks to a 70th-minute goal from midfielder Granit Xhaka.
Despite UEFA’s normal opposition to Champions League games being on the same day as Premier League games, the Premier League’s swift decisiveness to do UEFA a favour meant that the governing body were happy to make an exception.
Due to the crammed footballing calendar this season, teams are finding it harder and harder to find spots in the packed calendar following the World Cup.
Managers across the league have touched upon the packed fixture list this season, with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp stating that his team are being ‘overplayed’.
The Gunners and City have already met this season, with Pep’s side winning 1-0 in the FA Cup.
The game is set to take place at the Emirates Stadium, with kick-off getting underway at 7.30pm.
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