Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League match against Villarreal at Signal Iduna Park will feature a noticeably empty section after the Spanish club failed to sell its full allocation of away tickets.
Champions League rules allow visiting teams to use up to 5% of a stadium’s overall capacity for travelling supporters. With Dortmund’s home ground holding around 81,000 fans, Villarreal were entitled to just over 4,000 tickets. However, according to a report in Sport Bild, the La Liga side informed Dortmund they would not fill that allocation, having sold only 39 tickets for the fixture in Germany.
Unused allocation returned to Dortmund
As a result, the unsold tickets were given back to Dortmund for home fans. The report adds that Dortmund decided to accommodate those supporters in the West Stand rather than the North East corner, which is usually reserved for away followers. That leaves an entire section of the stadium empty for the match.
Dortmund boss Niko Kovac stressed the difficulty of the upcoming tie, with Villarreal having finished third in La Liga last season and qualifying for the Champions League for a second consecutive year.
Kovac wary of Villarreal threat
“They finished third last year and are playing in the Champions League for the second year in a row,” Kovac said via Dortmund’s club website. “Normally, the top three spots in Spain are locked up. If you break into that group (alongside Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid) that really says something!”
“They have a new coach now, but they continue to play the Spanish style with a lot of possession,” Kovac added. “They’re technically very sound and very precise in their execution. When they have the ball, this team makes very few mistakes.”
“We’ll have to make sure we reduce their time in possession. When we have the ball, they can’t play their game and have to defend more, which will hopefully work in our favour. It’s going to be a very difficult game.”
