Rapid Vienna have warned ticketless Rangers fans to stay away from their stadium ahead of tonight’s game.
The Austrian club have given the Gers 2,500 tickets for tonight’s match. This includes an additional 400 tickets extra that will allow more supporters to sit with the away end.
The 22,000-seater Allianz Arena in Vienna is going to be sold-out on the night. Rangers need a victory to progress to the last-32, whilst anything less would see them drop out of the competition.
Due to the occasion, an extra 9,000 Rangers fans have made the journey to Vienna without a ticket. Around 12,000 supporters are expected to have made the journey in total.
But speaking to Sky Sports, Rapid Vienna’s Head of Security Andreas Marek has informed those without a ticket to stay away from the venue.
“They should not come to the stadium without a ticket because there won’t be any tickets around the stadium.
“All the ticket boxes are closed, we don’t have any tickets and in Austria normally there won’t be people standing around the stadium offering tickets because they want to go to the stadium themselves.
“To all the supporters from Rangers without tickets (the message is) don’t come to the stadium, there are no tickets available.”
More of a message than a warning
This seems to be more of a polite informed message than anything else. It appears that going to the venue for tonight’s clash is a bad idea if you’re looking to get your hands on a ticket.
Fortunately, there will be plenty of pubs around the venue at which to watch tonight’s match. It’s highly-likely that many Rangers fans do that instead of attending the match or trying to go to the stadium.
It’s the club’s biggest away match in Europe for years. Therefore, you can hardly blame the amount of Rangers fans who’ve made the trip to revel in the occasion. A victory tonight and it’ll be one of the sweetest moments of the last decade for Rangers supporters, who’ve been starved of European success for eight years.
The backing supporters have given the club in Austria must provide the players with a boost. The pressure is all on them to go out on the Allianz Arena and perform for what will be an expectant support.
It won’t be a disaster if Rangers go out tonight. They’ve done tremendously well just to make it this far. Failing to go through, however, would hurt supporters considering Rangers topped the group earlier on.
The backing is certainly there, it’s now down to the Rangers players to deliver for them.
