Champions League tickets: prices, information and news

Real Madrid visiting BVB, Bayern Munich hosting PSG – these are the kind of fixtures that make the UEFA Champions League the highlight of every football season. Every matchday promises top matches. Especially when it comes to German teams, the viewing figures on Sky, DAZN and co. show the enormous interest of countless fans.

As a result, tickets for the top flight are correspondingly popular. Every supporter, regardless of the club, wants to see their team live at least once in the international competition. Getting Champions League tickets is therefore often a matter of luck. But at the latest when the Champions League anthem sounds, the effort is worth it.

How do you get Champions League tickets?

While for many Dortmund or Bayern fans it is already routine, for many others the procedure for UCL tickets is completely new. Basically, the first question is how and where to buy Champions League tickets. The first port of call is, of course, the respective clubs themselves. What differs, however, is how exactly the tickets are offered.

In the case of the German clubs, this involves season tickets, a lottery system and, finally, the sale of any remaining tickets. BVB, for example, offers an additional package to regular season tickets so that these are also valid for home matches in international competition.

Meanwhile, Union Berlin launched a lottery with 40,000 season tickets for all three home matches in the group stage before the draw for the Champions League group stage. It should be noted that this was only open to members of the club and nevertheless ended in a very short time with a sell-out.

So anyone who is neither a member of a club nor a season ticket holder has little chance of getting home match tickets at the start of the Champions League season. Nevertheless, the chances can increase from match day to match day, as tickets are often returned or resold. The secondary market in particular therefore offers opportunities (more on this later).

These are the upcoming matches in the Champions League:

Which Champions League tickets are available?

With regard to all possible tickets, a distinction must be made between the individual phases of the Champions League competition: the qualifying phase, the group phase and the knockout phase (final round). Depending on the club, tickets for matches in the qualifying phase are available from June to August. The group stage is followed by the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, each with a first and second leg, and finally the final.

There are therefore several options for Champions League tickets in Germany or abroad for away games or matches involving foreign teams. As in everyday league life, there are usually different ticket categories and therefore different prices.

It should be noted that some clubs use a foreign stadium as their home ground in international competitions. Union Berlin, for example, plays its home matches in the top flight at the Olympiastadion, which means that instead of 22,000 seats, over 70,000 are available for spectators.

Shakhtar Donetsk is a special case. The Ukrainians are regular participants in the Champions League. However, due to the war in Ukraine, it will not be possible to host matches in their home stadium for the 2023/2024 season. Instead, Shakhtar will use HSV’s Volksparkstadion for home matches and tickets will also be sold via HSV. This means that German fans will have the opportunity to watch FC Barcelona play Shakhtar Donetsk away at the Volksparkstadion, for example.

How much do tickets for the Champions League cost?

Whether season ticket or day ticket – tickets for matches in the international competition are generally more expensive than in the national league. Fans should therefore be aware that prices in the three-digit range are quite possible and not uncommon for Champions League tickets. However, it all depends on the club in question.

As a newcomer in its very first Champions League season, Union Berlin offers a comparatively low price level. For the first home game against SC Braga, members of the club pay between €35 and €70, depending on the price category, and non-members between €50 and €85. Higher prices can be expected in the final round of the tournament or for larger clubs.

For comparison: at FC Bayern Munich, the cheapest seat in the Champions League for the group stage costs 50 euros and the most expensive category 100 euros. It should be noted that all these prices apply to home matches of German clubs. The prices for away matches depend on the host club, so a ticket for an away match in Braga, for example, is cheaper than a ticket for the Bernabéu in Madrid.

What are the cheapest Champions League tickets?

Smaller clubs in particular, such as Union Berlin, RC Lens in France or Royal Antwerp in Belgium, sometimes offer cheap Champions League tickets – at least compared to Real Madrid, Manchester City and other spectator magnets.

In principle, however, all clubs offer ticket categories that are comparatively cheap but do not provide the best viewing conditions for the match. In addition, almost every club allows discounts of a few euros for certain categories and under individual conditions. Discounted Champions League tickets are mainly available for children and young people as well as people with severe disabilities.

Apart from that, standing tickets are a particularly favourable price category. At FC Bayern, for example, a standing place in the Champions League only costs €15, while at BVB it is also a favourable €18.50. Since the 2022/2023 season, UEFA has initially allowed standing room in international competitions again on a trial basis. However, in Germany, these areas are usually sold in advance to season ticket holders and club members.

When can I buy Champions League tickets?

As already mentioned, members often have the opportunity to purchase a Champions League season ticket for home matches in the group stage before the draw. This means that the majority of seats are usually already allocated. If there is a contingent of remaining tickets, these are usually offered on sale around two to three weeks before a match day. However, there is often an initial sales phase for club members only.

The last matches of the group stage always take place in December. This means that there will be more Champions League tickets in 2024, which will then be for the matches in the final round. The pairings for the knockout matches are also drawn so that the date and time of the respective home and away matches are already known for the pre-sale.

The sales phase for those tickets will then begin again a few weeks before the match days and will run as usual. So anyone who wants to get hold of tickets via the remainder sale or on the secondary market will have to be patient.

Champions League tickets on the secondary market – serious?

Although top matches in particular are regularly sold out, it is always worth taking a look at the secondary market. A distinction must be made between the club’s own online shops as a secondary market and external platforms or ticket exchanges. The former is handled directly by the respective clubs, for example by season ticket holders providing their tickets for a home match.

The latter involves providers such as Viagogo, StubHub, Ebay and classified adverts. Here, too, it is almost exclusively private individuals who sell their tickets. Precisely because many tickets are bought before the group stage draw, they are often sold later via these platforms. Viagogo and similar service providers act as intermediaries between sellers and buyers. Interested parties should therefore bear a few aspects in mind:

• Payment options: Bank transfers are to be avoided, while Paypal offers security
• Price: higher prices are common, especially when demand is high
• Validity: ideally, the validity/authenticity of the ticket can be verified
• Shipping: insured shipping should be used for hardcover tickets
• Personalisation/transfer: the handling of personalised tickets varies from club to club

If none of these points raise any concerns, there is nothing to stop you from buying a ticket. Especially if a secure payment method such as PayPal can be used and the ticket price is within the usual range, it can even be a lucky strike. Especially as the purchase of tickets on ticket exchanges is always legal.

Are Champions League tickets personalised?

The clubs themselves are also responsible for selling their tickets in the Champions League. They therefore do not necessarily have to be personalised tickets. However, this is usually the case for German clubs and it is not always possible to transfer tickets. This can result in a risk for the buyer when reselling tickets – if personal data is checked at the entrance to the stadium.

Are personalised tickets checked?

In fact, this is rather unlikely, even if clubs regularly point out that ID checks are carried out at the entrance. However, considering how many spectators pass through the entrance on a match day, it is almost impossible for every ticket and every person to be checked.

However, it should be mentioned that matches in international competition are often somewhat explosive. Special security measures are in place for such matches, which means that checks are more likely to be carried out. This applies in particular to the entrances to areas for home fans – for example, anyone who does not conform to the usual appearance of the country or does not speak Spanish at Madrid’s home game should expect to be checked.

Tickets for the Champions League Final

The highlight of every year in European football is the Champions League final, which also marks the end of the season. Tickets for the Champions League final are therefore something very special for every football fan. While the DFB Cup final always takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, UEFA chooses a new venue for the CL final every year.

Tickets for the Champions League final usually go on sale a few weeks before the date of the match. In 2023, for example, fans worldwide had the chance to buy a ticket for the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul in April, while the semi-final only took place in May. However, this only involved a small contingent of a few thousand tickets.

The majority of the available seats will ultimately go to the two clubs in the final in equal shares. A further sale will therefore take place via these clubs, as described above and a few weeks before the final match. Anyone who is a member of one of the finalists will of course have a better chance of getting a ticket.

However, experience has shown that the secondary market also contains many offers for Champions League tickets, whereby logically higher prices can be expected. Even with the tickets officially issued by UEFA, the price range in four ticket categories extends from 70 to 690 euros.

Champions League tickets for wheelchair users and the visually impaired

Finally, it should be mentioned that, as in league matches in Germany, there are also special seats for people with disabilities in the Champions League. This applies to qualifying and group stage matches as well as to the final round right through to the final. People with visual impairments or wheelchair users usually receive Champions League tickets at a reduced price. The same applies to other people with severe disabilities from 50% GDB.

However, the availability of such tickets is very limited and rarely sufficient to meet demand. Ideally, interested parties should contact the respective clubs in good time, especially as tickets are often allocated by application in such cases. This also applies to UEFA, which offers final tickets for spectators with disabilities at the price of the cheapest ticket category.