Liverpool resume their Europa League campaign on Thursday, with Atalanta set to visit Anfield for the first leg of the quarter-final. The other quarter-finals see Milan paired with Roma, Leverkusen playing West Ham, and Benfica facing Marseille.
For whichever of the eight remaining clubs manage to advance to the semi-finals and then to the final in Dublin on May 22nd, though, UEFA have now confirmed that a paltry seating allotment of just 12,000 will be set aside for each of the involved clubs.
With half the seating set aside for fans of the clubs that make the final, UEFA claim the remaining half will be offered for general sale—though past finals would suggest a quite significant portion will go to sponsors and those with UEFA connections.
Concerns around ticket allocation for the major European finals has become a yearly issue for fans, who are often left to feel as if UEFA only ever pay lip service to putting “fans first” as they once again claim to do in today’s confirmatory announcement.
This season’s Europa League final could face additional criticism on the fan access front due to being played at a stadium that seats just 48,000. Last year, the final was held at the much larger, 67,000 capacity Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
