Real Betis could potentially bring hugely reduced support to Celtic Park

By David Walton

November 30, 2021

Real Betis could end up bringing a hugely reduced away support to Celtic Park for next week’s Europa League clash in Glasgow.

The Hoops and Betis will meet up for a dead-rubber clash to round off their respective group stage campaigns. Betis are already through to the last-32, whilst Celtic are confirmed as Europa Conference League-bound.

Celtic had handed Betis over 2,500 tickets. According to the Scottish Sun, this is one of the highest allocations the La Liga club have had for an away European match in their history.

However, with expensive PCR tests now required to enter the UK, Betis have made the classy move to offer their supporters refunds as opposed to splashing out hundreds of pounds just to enter the country.

In a statement on their official website, Betis said: “The governments of the United Kingdom and Scotland have tightened the conditions of access to the country due to the evolution of the Covid, conditioning the arrival of Betic fans for the Celtic FC-Real Betis match on Thursday, December 9.

“Due to this, Real Betis Balompié will return the amount of tickets already reserved to those fans who decide not to travel to Scotland. Fans who do want to finally attend the game can withdraw their ticket at the Gol Sur ticket offices from Monday, November 29 to Thursday, December 2, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. As of Friday 3, the Club will return online the amount already paid for the tickets to all Betic fans who have not withdrawn it.”

Real Betis could be backed by little support at Celtic Park

In a way, it’s difficult to get too invested in this. Whilst it may reduce the support Betis receive in Glasgow next week, you also then remember that the game itself is a dead rubber.

But even so, there are gains to be made with a victory. A group stage victory in the Europa League is still worth £537k even if you’ve already been knocked out of the competition [Swiss Ramble]. There are rewards there for Celtic if they can get the job done.

Not to mention that there’s still the general prestige that comes with getting a victory. All wins help the nation’s coefficient, whilst it gives the club some credibility on the European stage.

Celtic have given a good account of themselves in what was a hugely tough European group to begin with. We should’ve got a result away to both Betis and Bayer Leverkusen. So ideally, we don’t want the Spanish outfit to rock up at Celtic Park and make us look uncompetitive.

A victory over them will only increase the belief of both the players and the supporters heading into the Conference League. Our European run isn’t over yet, and it’s important to remember that heading into next week.

Hopefully, the game kicks off with plenty of Betis fans in attendance to make the contest a special occasion regardless. But given the Covid situation around the globe at the moment, it’s difficult to predict.

In other news, Why Celtic are playing later than rivals for 3 consecutive league games