EUROPA League
UEFA MAY CAP AWAY TICKETS PRICES IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
UEFA have received complaints from several European giants over the cost of away tickets. They are now looking to cap the prices.
The proposal to do so will be discussed in May.
According to Sky Sports, UEFA will soon cap away tickets prices in the Champions League and Europa League. The decision was made following complaints from the likes of Liverpool and Bayern Munich regarding away ticket prices in the Champions League last season.
Spanish publication, Tribuna, reports that a lot of Bayern fans boycotted the match against Anderlecht in November 2017 due to the €100 price tag put on away tickets by the Belgian side. Liverpool supporters had to pay three times as much as local fans to watch Liverpool’s game against Porto. This year Liverpool have urged Porto to reduce prices for away tickets and the Portuguese side did so, lowering the price from £73 to £52.
However, this term not all clubs have learned the lesson. Manchester Citysupporters are paying £60 for their Champions League away game against Tottenham, which is twice as much as they paid for the Premier League clash against Spurs.
Barca have also been involved in the Champions League ticket prices scandal not long ago. Barcelona are charging Man United fans for €120 for the Camp Nou ticket. Which is reported to be the most expensive ticket in the English club’s history outside of a final. In response, United decided to increase the cost of tickets given to Barcelona supporters at Old Trafford to €120 and use the difference to subsidise ticket prices for travellers to Camp Nou down to £75.
This decision in its turn lead to Barcelona reducing the cost of official club trip to Manchester from €250 to €210 to compensate for United increasing ticket price, reports ESPN correspondent Sam Marsden.
Cost includes chartered flight and transport to and from the stadium but not the ticket itself.
As for Camp Nou prices, Barcelona is refusing to reduce these, as they are equal both for the home and away supporters, i.e. Barca fans are charged the same €120 that produced United’s outrage.
According to the ECA general secretary Michele Centenar, several clubs discussed the issue on Monday and the proposal on away tickets price cap would go to the next UEFA club competitions committee on May 14.
ECA vice-chairman and former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said: “Speaking as a former player, we want vocal fans at games and most of the time that’s the support that travels to domestic away games, too.
“We have fans who watch on TV all around the world but I think it’s important that we keep football affordable for local fans so they can travel at home and abroad.”
Four-times Europa League winner Unai Emery booked an astonishing sixth final in the competition as a manager on Thursday when his Aston Villa team swept aside Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their all-English semi-final.
The 54-year-old Spaniard has won three times with Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016) and once with Villarreal (2021) – either side of a defeat with Arsenal (2019) – deservedly earning him the epithet “Mr Europa League” from some fans and media.
Now he goes to the 2026 final seeking a fifth title, this time with Aston Villa against Bundesliga side Freiburg.
“His track record speaks for itself,” said Villa striker Ollie Watkins, heaping praise on his boss as the man to guarantee Europa League success. “We need to go and win it now.”
Emery was delighted with how his team overturned a 1-0 deficit to Forest in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final to score four times at home and win 4-1 on aggregate.
“Now we have to look to the final,” he said, hoping that Villa will do “something fantastic” for their fans.
Though thrilled at Thursday’s win, Emery left the pitch quickly after the final whistle, pumping his fist a few times at the crowd before letting his players enjoy the moment with fans
He and his Villa side will be favourites at the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, but Emery was taking nothing for granted. “Of course German teams are so difficult, their coaches, their players are so good,” he added of the upcoming opponents.
-Reuters
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List of teams which have qualified for the next round of the Europa League after the league phase concluded on Thursday, ranked by table position:
Directly to the round of 16:
1. Olympique Lyonnais (France)
2. Aston Villa (England)
3. Midtjylland (Denmark)
4. Real Betis (Spain)
5. Porto (Portugal)
6. Braga (Portugal)
7. Freiburg (Germany)
8. AS Roma (Italy)
Knockout phase play-off places (seeded)
9. Genk (Belgium)
10. Bologna (Italy)
11. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)
13. Nottingham Forest (England)
14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
16. Celta Vigo (Spain)
Knockout phase play-off places (unseeded)
17. PAOK (Greece)
18. Lille (France)
19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)
20. Panathinaikos (Greece)
21. Celtic (Scotland)
22. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
24. SK Brann (Norway)
-Reuters
UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v RB Salzburg – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – January 29, 2026 Aston
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Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.
The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.
“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.
Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.
-Reuters
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