The last thing Manchester United needed, after months of criticism of their stewarding for home European games, was for Real Sociedad supporters to get tickets in the home end tonight.
However, that’s precisely what’s happened, as this picture from before tonight’s match shows.
United have had a controversial history with this issue, starting from last season’s home Champions League game with Galatasaray, where hundreds of Turkish supporters managed to acquire tickets to sit in different areas of the stadium. This led to intimidating and confrontational scenes, and scores of complaints from United fans to the club.
The club conducted an enquiry and initial feedback seemed to place the blame on the home supporters, but this seemed unlikely, considering the membership system that associates accounts and individual devices. Home supporters, in turn, have criticised the loose hospitality requirements which enable anyone without a membership to buy.
Ahead of the recent game against Rangers, the club announced that they had restricted ticket availability to those who had memberships prior to the group draw being made – thereby making it unlikely that Rangers supporters could get some. However, this proved to be a false dawn, with just as many Rangers fans as there had been Galatasaray fans fifteen months earlier.
And tonight, it is evident that Spanish fans have managed to get tickets into the home end of the ground, once more posing a safety risk for Manchester United fans within the confines at Old Trafford.
United face Real Sociedad tonight, with kick off due shortly at 8pm; Ruben Amorim is under increasing pressure to steer his side to a Champions League place, and with no hope of doing that via the Premier League, all hope rests on winning the Europa League. United drew 1-1 in Spain last week, and will hope for a better result tonight than their recent home form has suggested will arrive.