Why do Wednesday's Champions League matches kick-off at the same time?

"The final league stage fixtures of the Champions League will be played simultaneously on Wednesday, 28 January. All 18 games will kick-off at 20:00 GMT because it is the end of the competition's league stage in the new format - similar to the final day of the Premier League. For many teams, including the Premier League sides involved, there is still all to play for on Wednesday. The schedule ensures that no team has an unfair advantage by having a later kick-off and therefore knowing what they would need to progress in the competition."

"This ruling came about after the 1982 World Cup group stage match between West Germany and Austria, where both teams knew a 1-0 win for the Germans was enough for both to qualify above Algeria, who had already played Chile the previous day. West Germany scored in the first half and a perceived lack of effort from both sides in the second half led to Algeria making a formal complaint to Fifa. Fifa said the teams did not break any rules, but they did change the structure so the final group stage games at the World Cup take place simultaneously."

"It also ensures that the teams furthest away in Europe are playing away to keep the time zone difference minimal. Kazakhstani side Kairat Almaty are playing Arsenal away at the Emirates Stadium in London, but should it have been a home game, it would have kicked off at 01:00 local time. It is a similar case for Azerbaijani club Qarabag, who are playing away at Liverpool. The fixture would have began at 00:00 local time."

The final league stage of the Champions League will have all 18 fixtures kick off simultaneously at 20:00 GMT on Wednesday 28 January under the new league-phase format. Simultaneous kick-offs prevent any team gaining an advantage from knowing other results late in the evening. The practice follows changes prompted by the 1982 World Cup match between West Germany and Austria, after which FIFA mandated concurrent final group games. The format also schedules teams from distant time zones to play away to limit extreme local kickoff times. The top eight progress to the last-16, while teams placed ninth to 24 enter two-legged knockout play-offs.

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