Champions League behind closed doors? Oddity at BVB's opener | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund begin the new Champions League season on Tuesday evening with a home game against Villarreal CF. Normally, a Champions League night at Signal Iduna Park would be expected to be a sell-out. This time, however, one entire corner of the stadium will remain empty.

Affected are blocks 55 to 59 in the north-east corner, amounting to around 4,000 seats. As BILD reports, the reason is a curious problem with the away allocation.

Villarreal only informed BVB the day before the match that a large portion of the tickets intended for Spanish fans would not be needed. According to the report, just 39 supporters purchased tickets for the match in Dortmund through the visiting club.

Those few travelling Villarreal fans will therefore not be seated in the originally designated north-east corner at all. For logistical reasons, BVB has moved them to an area in the west stand.

BVB unable to sell 4,000 tickets at short notice

Under UEFA regulations, the visiting club in the Champions League is entitled to five percent of the stadium’s total capacity as a ticket allocation. The tickets can be sold to supporters through the club’s own channels.

Villarreal had already announced beforehand that they only wanted to use seated tickets. That allowed Borussia Dortmund to release the standing section in the lower tier, which is normally also reserved for away fans, to their own supporters at an early stage.

That is no longer possible for the roughly 4,000 seats in the north-east corner. Because Villarreal only reported back at very short notice that the allocation would remain almost entirely unused, the area can no longer be converted into a regular home section in time, according to BILD.

The consequence will also be clearly visible on television: one entire corner of Signal Iduna Park will remain empty for the Champions League opener.

Instead of the maximum possible crowd of 81,365, BVB are therefore expecting around 77,000 spectators. In the club’s view, the few remaining tickets from Dortmund’s home allocation are also likely to be sold by kick-off.

Kovac warns about Villarreal

Photo: IMAGO

The almost complete lack of support from the away fans should not distract Dortmund from what awaits them on the pitch. Coach Niko Kovac has explicitly warned about the Spaniards’ qualities.

“They have a new coach now, but they still maintain the Spanish style of play with a lot of possession. They are technically very clean and very precise in their execution. When they have the ball, this team makes very few mistakes,” the BVB coach explained ahead of the match.

Dortmund must therefore try to allow Villarreal as little control of the game as possible. “We 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 suit us better. It’s going to be a very difficult match.”

Kovac is therefore expecting an awkward opponent on the pitch. In the stands, however, the balance of power will be clear: around 77,000 spectators compared with just 39 away fans who travelled with Villarreal. An unusual sight for a Champions League night at Signal Iduna Park.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.