Liverpool not given enough tickets for Europa League final

18 May 2016 11:29

In a massive game like this for Klopp's side, against the champions, and Liverpool fans have been allocated around 10,000 seats. It's nowhere near enough.

The Reds play the holders of the last two seasons Sevilla in the final tonight and Swiss police chief Andreas Knuchel says the city of Basel are planning to welcome around 40,000 Liverpool fans. Merseyside Police are worried that fans without tickets shouldn't go to the match. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp originally said all fans should make their way to Basel, but later retracted this statement.

However, we need to look at the bigger picture. Surely UEFA should wait until the latter stages to decide where to play a final. It would stop situations like Bayern Munich playing Chelsea in their own stadium like the 2012 Champions League final and maybe more importantly you won't be stuck with a 35,000 capacity stadium like Basel with a club of Liverpool's stature getting there.

This is the sort of mismanagement by authorities that lead to Heysel and Hillsborough. UEFA should know by now that Liverpool in a European final is a big deal, a very big deal and fans arrive en masse, ticket or no ticket.

The last time Liverpool reached this final against Alaves the game was held at Dortmund's Westfalenstadion which at the time had a capacity of 68,600. At that game the Spanish had one end and Liverpool fans took over the rest of the stadium, that's what they do. It's not a new fact.

What would the authorities have done if the draw turned out different and Liverpool faced Dortmund or Manchester United in the final? The place would've been swamped with fans.

The Swiss police are trying to accommodate, saying they were prepared to welcome any fans who turned up. Andreas Knuchel has said that around eight extra flights had been chartered from England to Basel airport - and there could be more coming to other airports nearby.

He then added this message for fans travelling to Basel without tickets "All the hotels and accommodations are booked, so if you are looking for a bed this will not work. You can stay up all night or get a flight back after the match."

The police have set up checkpoints to keep ticketless fans from the stadium, however, they have set up in the town two public viewing areas with massive screens and despite the warnings the Swiss police promise they would be relaxed "Everyone is welcome here and we will treat you well and be friendly." According to Knuchel.

He did also mention that "If you don't know how to behave we will take people into custody if we need to because we are responsible for the safety in our city." Which is fair enough. But blame has to be put at UEFA's door for their decision to hold the Europa League final at Basel's St Jakob-Park stadium, where the capacity is only 35,000. The city has a population of 175,566. There is a good chance that 100,000 Liverpool fans could turn up.

One thing is for sure, if Liverpool manage to beat Sevilla, Basel will see a party like it has never seen before or will ever see again.

Source: DSG