Ibrox boss puzzled over venue choice for glamour final

GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST admits only UEFA can explain why a 43,000-capacity stadium was chosen to stage the Europa League final. Tens of thousands of Rangers fans are descending on Seville for tomorrow evening’s showdown against Eintracht Frankfurt, but the club’s official ticket allocation for the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium is just 9,500. The ground is smaller than either Ibrox or Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park — and 17,000 seats short of the Estadio La Cartuja across town which will host a screening for ticketless Rangers fans. Van Bronckhorst (pictured) wonders if UEFA were eager to keep a distinction with the Champions League final — being staged at the 81,000-capacity Stade de France — but wishes there was an opportunity for more supporters to attend. ‘I don’t know what the thinking is,’ admitted Van Bronckhorst. ‘Of course, I would love to have a bigger stadium because then more fans could watch the game. ‘I don’t know, maybe it’s like they want to have a difference in all the competitions. You know, the Champions League has a big stadium in Paris now, the Europa League and Conference League has a smaller stadium. ‘I think they want to keep the difference in level — that’s a question for UEFA. ‘I really expect a great atmosphere with all the fans we’ve got. I played there before with Barcelona and also with Feyenoord in the Europa League. ‘I think it’s going to be a very good atmosphere in this stadium.’