Liverpool have written to UEFA and Real Madrid in search of an explanation after being told that they can bring just 1,800 supporters to the Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie in March.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will face the reigning European champions in a repeat of last season’s final - but without what they deem an acceptable number of their own fans inside the stadium.
Los Blancos’ project to renovate their stadium, which is expected to cost about £600million, is yet to be completed, with capacity reduced to less than 60,000 from a maximum of 82,000. Work on the stadium began in 2019 and will see a retractable roof among the features, but it is has been impacted by delays.
Chelsea were offered the same number of tickets for last season’s semi-final, while Celtic referred to the construction works when they received 1,800 tickets for their group-stage loss at the beginning of November. Yet Liverpool are not satisfied with the decision which sees just 3 per cent of the available seats being offered to their fans.
The club said in a statement: “Liverpool FC has received an allocation of 1,800 for the Champions League away fixture against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday March 15. This allocation is significantly less than expected for this game.
“The club has contacted UEFA and Real Madrid regarding the reduced allocation to understand the rationale behind this decision. Spirit of Shankly, the official Supporters Trust, and the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association have also asked the club to raise their concerns and asked to remain in dialogue throughout the process.
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“LFC is committed to having as many supporters as possible in stadiums for European away fixtures and continues to develop its systems and processes to fill allocations at every away game. The club fully understands the impact this initial decision by Real Madrid has on supporters and the challenges with making travel arrangements for the game.
“Representatives from LFC are in direct contact with the Supporters Trust and the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association and will continue to explore all options to increase the allocation, particularly for disabled supporters. LFC will provide supporters with an update when the ticket allocation has been confirmed.”
Liverpool finished second in their Champions League group to Serie A leaders Napoli to reach the Champions League knockout stage in search of their seventh European triumph. Real Madrid, meanwhile, beat RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic to grab top spot in Group F, before UEFA's draw in Nyon pitted the two European heavyweights together once again.
