Celtic’s Champions League knockout tie against Bayern Munich has officially sold out—before tickets even reached general sale.
The match, scheduled for Wednesday, February 12th, at Celtic Park, will see a packed house roaring on Brendan Rodgers’ side in what promises to be a blockbuster European night.
In a boost for the travelling support the week later, it’s been confirmed that Celtic fans will be allowed to attend the second leg at the Allianz Arena in Germany. This comes after UEFA’s disciplinary panel strongly considered imposing an away fan ban due to pyrotechnic use during Celtic’s final group-stage match against Aston Villa.
Given Celtic’s history with UEFA disciplinary issues—most notably the suspended sentence following pyro incidents against Borussia Dortmund—there were genuine fears that the governing body would come down hard this time.
Behind the scenes, Celtic’s legal team worked tirelessly to avoid a ban, successfully arguing that the Villa Park incident was the result of one individual’s actions, rather than an orchestrated group display.
UEFA ultimately decided against enforcing the suspended away fan ban, opting instead to issue Celtic a €10,000 (£8,000) fine.
While Celtic have avoided the worst-case scenario, the club remains under serious warning. Any further incidents could trigger harsher sanctions, including potential future bans on away supporters.
This decision means the travelling Celtic support will be present to back the team in Munich—a massive boost as the Hoops aim to pull off an upset against the German giants.
With Celtic Park sold out and fans cleared to attend the return leg in Germany, this tie is shaping up to be a great European occasion.
If Celtic know who the culprit was then the legal team should now set about recovering that money from the idiot concerned.