Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain clash in Saturday's Champions League final, with their previous encounter mired in a ticketing dispute. The sides of Mikel Arteta and Luis Enrique last met in the semi-finals of last season's tournament. The French powerhouses secured a 1-0 victory in the opening leg at north London, before sealing their place in the final with a 2-1 triumph a week later. They went on to claim the trophy for the first time, demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in the showpiece.
Yet just days ahead of the first-leg semi-final, tensions surfaced between the two clubs. Arsenal announced that the French champions would receive just 2,500 away tickets rather than the standard 3,000 allocation.
The decision blindsided PSG, particularly as the Parisians had been granted the full allocation for their league phase visit to the Emirates back in October. UEFA rules stipulate that clubs must provide five per cent of stadium capacity to visiting supporters, but 2,500 tickets represents closer to four per cent. Arsenal maintained their decision stemmed from security considerations and followed guidance from local authorities, reports the Mirror .
According to sources, the London Marathon, scheduled just 48 hours prior to kick-off, was among the factors influencing PSG's reduced ticket allocation. Whatever the justification, the Parisian outfit made their frustration abundantly clear. They maintained the move violated 'fair play' principles and filed a formal objection with UEFA after Arsenal turned down their appeal for an additional 500 tickets, according to L'Equipe. PSG's official statement declared: "PSG does not find this decision very fair play and has referred the matter to UEFA to try to obtain the quota of 3,000 tickets that are due to it according to UEFA regulations.
"The club could also explore other avenues of appeal between now and Tuesday if necessary. Parisian subscribers received an email on Thursday to buy their ticket for the Emirates." The administrative dispute escalated when Arsenal were subsequently allocated merely 2,000 tickets for the return leg.
While this fell 500 short of UEFA's five per cent requirement, PSG had secured special permission to lower this to 4.1 per cent ahead of the campaign following a request from local police. The Arsenal Supporters' Trust condemned PSG's rigid ticketing arrangements for the match. "It's not fair that every club that plays a Champions League game in Paris has less tickets for their supporters," AST board member Tim Payton told the Guardian. "We don't expect it will make much difference for next week's second leg but the new format means that English clubs are going to be playing PSG more regularly over the next few years so something needs to change." Saturday's final, Arsenal's first Champions League showpiece since 2006, is scheduled to unfold at Budapest's Puskas Arena in Hungary.
While the stadium boasts a capacity of 67,215, the official Arsenal website confirms that merely 17,200 supporters will be backing the Gunners. PSG are understood to have been granted an identical allocation, while approximately 4,600 tickets have been made available to the worldwide general public through UEFA's official portal lottery system. UEFA has confirmed that 39,000 of the 61,400 tickets are accessible for supporters and members of the public to buy directly. Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland and beyond .