Villarreal will begin their Champions League campaign at Borussia Dortmund with an official travelling support of 39 people.
The Spanish club face Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday evening, with approximately 77,000 spectators expected to attend the leagueíon-phase fixture.
Only 39 tickets were purchased through Villarreal’s official allocation, however, leaving the designated away section considerably larger than necessary.
Villarreal reportedly informed Dortmund one day before the match that they would require virtually none of the tickets made available to them.
The timing left the German club unable to convert the remaining seats into a regular home section before kick-off.
Approximately 4,000 seats across blocks 55 to 59 in the north-east corner will therefore remain completely empty.
The 39 Villarreal supporters are instead being relocated to part of the west stand for logistical reasons, allowing the entire original away section to be closed.
Had they remained in the corner, each visiting supporter could theoretically have enjoyed more than 100 seats.
The remarkably small following has been partly attributed to the limited time available to organise the journey. The fixture schedule was only confirmed at the end of August, while Villarreal opened their ticket sale five days before the match.
A midweek journey from eastern Spain to Dortmund was therefore presented to supporters with considerably less notice than most European trips.
Villarreal had previously indicated that they intended to sell seated tickets only, allowing Dortmund to make part of the usual visitors’ standing area available to home supporters. The club did not learn how few seated tickets would be needed until it was too late to reorganise the remainder.
Dortmund regularly attract crowds approaching Signal Iduna Park’s 81,365 capacity and have continued selling additional home tickets ahead of the match.
The stadium should consequently appear almost full in every direction except the corner specifically reserved for people who are not coming.
Villarreal’s 39 supporters will still be present, grouped together elsewhere in the ground and facing the relatively modest task of making themselves heard among approximately 77,000 people.
They may not occupy the official away section, but each should at least have a reasonable chance of learning everybody else’s name before half-time.
