Villarreal have declared their Europa League clash against Rangers on Thursday a ‘high-risk’ game.
The two sides last met during the Round of 16 stage in the Champions League in 2006 and Villarreal booked their berth in the quarter-final on the away goals rule after the two teams were inseparable at 3-3 on aggregate.
The fixture will be remembered for the Gers’ brave showing, but it was marred by what was judged to be discriminatory chanting from the Scottish fans that subsequently earned Rangers a fine of £13,300 from the UEFA.
Both teams have had contrasting fortunes since that meeting in Spain and Rangers will now mark their return to the group stages of a European competition after a gap of seven years, when they visit Villarreal on Thursday.
The Spanish La Liga outfit have termed the fixture a high-risk tie and confirmed that they will only allocate 2,200 tickets to the away supporters in the 23,500-capacity stadium.
Furthermore, Villarreal have also made it clear that they have made ticket reservations strict after consulting with the Spanish police force.
“Tickets will only be sold at the stadium and will not be sold to any British nationals. Full names, addresses and passport numbers will be required”, an official statement from the club read.
"Rangers supporters will only be allowed in their allocated section and any away fan found in any of the home stands will be immediately ejected.
"Villarreal reserve the right to take appropriate action against any supporter who is found to have passed on a season ticket to a Rangers supporter”, it said.
Rangers have been drawn alongside Villarreal, Rapid Vienna and Spartak Moscow in Group G of the Europa League this year.
