With a squad stocked full of talent, a likeable manager and an exciting brand of football, Liverpool are a big draw these days.
While most would have wanted to avoid them in the Champions League draw this week, the chance of getting the European Champions was also something plenty were keen on.
Ultimately the sword fell on Atlético Madrid and it seems that it’s gone down very well with the club’s fans.
Mundo Deportivo report today that tickets for the first leg of the last 16 clash, which is at the Wanda Metropolitano, went on sale on sale on Tuesday and it’s caused ‘madness’.
They report that before ten o’clock, when the tickets went on sale, hundreds of Atlético fans were already on the website trying to get themselves a ticket.
By 1pm that afternoon, more than 4,000 people were in the virtual quest, and the average waiting time was ‘well over an hour’. That died down by the afternoon, but there was still a queue nonetheless.
It’s explained that at this rate, members tickets for the clash with Liverpool will sell out in the two days they have to buy them.
Looking ahead to the return leg, Atlético are already working with Liverpool to find out how many tickets they will get for Anfield. UEFA have a rule in place saying 5% of capacity must go to away fans, so that’s likely to be 2,500.
They’ll be sold out quickly as demand for the game at Anfield is ‘very high’. Flight to Liverpool and nearby cities, namely Manchester, went six times higher than they were before the draw.
This is all because, ‘despite the difficulty of the rival’, the ‘illusion’ of the Atlético fans is that they can get a good result and enjoy a good run in the Champions League.
Liverpool will have something to say about that, of course, but this fixture seems to be shaping up as one of the most exciting in the last 16.
