Sports News

Manchester United Champions League Ticket Tips

September 2, 2023
by Greg Snoyman

Manchester United are back playing Champions League football and have learned of their opposition for the 2023/24 group stage.

UEFA held the draw ceremony for the group phase of its premier club competition, with the Red Devils returning to the equation after playing Europa League football last season.

We guide you through their six group matches with tips for buying tickets to see Man United in the Champions League.

Manchester United Ticket Information

Acquiring tickets for the UEFA Champions League is by no means plain sailing.

As with most other games, fans looking to attend a Champions League fixture would need to buy tickets through the club(s) directly. In the case of Manchester United, this means that your chances of attaining match tickets are extremely unfavourable.

Of course, season ticket holders are entitled to tickets for all home matches throughout the season. The remainder of available seats are available only to official members of the club and, for games with the highest demand, a ballot system is implemented to determine the occupants of available seats.

For context, Man United boast an estimated 50,000 season ticket holders (roughly two-thirds of the Old Trafford capacity) and a waiting list of more than double that figure.

In December 2022, the club announced there were more than 330,000 official members of Manchester United – the largest such programme of any sporting institution in the world.

For Champions League games at Old Trafford, there are 3,715 seats available in the away supporters’ section. Visiting supporters must purchase tickets through their own club.

View the Old Trafford seating plan.

Old Trafford interior

How SeatPick can help

Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom if you do not hold official membership.

SeatPick compares ticket prices on the secondary market, from a wide array of trusted resellers on the web. Our platform features only authorised and vetted sites, ensuring your tickets with a 100% guarantee. 

Manchester United Champions League tickets see prices varying, based on several factors including the opposition, venue, time of year and magnitude of the fixture.

For example, tickets for the visit of FC Copenhagen to Old Trafford start from just £71 with SeatPick. Meanwhile, for the Red Devils’ trip to Galatasaray, prices are more than ten-fold that figure – starting from a staggering £792.

Tips for Buying Manchester United Champions League Tickets

It is not unusual for ticket prices to take a severe toll on budgets, but where there’s a will there’s a way.

Here are some useful tips to consider when purchasing Manchester United Champions League tickets:

  • For the bigger and more attractive games, it is best to secure your seats sooner rather than later. There is going to be a massive demand for Manchester United vs Bayern Munich tickets and it is highly unlikely prices will drop as this substantial fixture looms nearer.
  • Following the draw proceedings and, subsequently, the compilation of the schedule, it has been revealed that the above fixture will take place in the sixth and final round of the 2023/24 Champions League group stage. There is a great possibility that this clash will be of huge significance for both teams involved. This is another reason to book your tickets ASAP, as ticket prices are sure to increase as time passes.
  • As mentioned, official club membership is also a long-term option to consider for successfully obtaining tickets down the line. If a realistic prospect, it is also advisable to join the season ticket waiting list.
  • If you are looking to purchase multiple tickets, it is worth buying them separately. This may prove more economical to purchase tickets individually from resale sites as opposed to altogether in a single transaction.
  • However, if you do require seats next to each other, SeatPick has an option to find tickets seated together.

Manchester United Champions League History

The Red Devils are three-time winners of Europe’s most prestigious prize. Under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson, United were victors of the Champions League in 1999 and 2008.

United were first crowned European champions in 1968, as Sir Matt Busby had rebuilt the team following the fatal Munich Air Disaster a decade prior.

This is the 26th season in which Man United are taking part in the Champions League group stage since the competition reformatted in the 1992/93 campaign.

The Reds have history with all three of their opponents in Group A. First and foremost, Man United and Bayern Munich have had their fair share of high-calibre clashes over the years.

These teams met as many as three times in the 1998/99 season alone. They shared a group together with FC Barcelona, though the Catalan giants could only muster a 3rd-place finish and thus were knocked out of the competition.

After draws in both their group fixtures, Man Utd and Bayern later contested the Champions League final at Camp Nou. United spectacularly scored twice in the dying embers of the game, through Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, to clinch the European crown from the grasp of their German counterparts.

Since that famous night in Barcelona, these European juggernauts have clashed a few more times in the Champions League. Most recently in 2013/14, the first season post-Ferguson, then-holders Bayern recorded a 4-2 aggregate win over Man United in the quarter-finals.

They had also been drawn against one another in the 2000/01 and 2009/10 campaigns, both times in the quarter-finals; Bayern progressed to the last-four on both occasions.

Although he didn’t work directly with the senior team, the trip to Munich will be a homecoming of sorts for Erik ten Hag. The current Man Utd manager served as head coach of the Bayern reserve team from 2013-15 before returning to his native Netherlands to take up a first senior managerial role.

Harry Kane was reportedly a primary target for Ten Hag during the recent summer transfer window. However, the England skipper and ex-Tottenham striker instead completed a move to the Bavarian club, for a transfer fee in the region of €100m (£86m).

The big-money striker who United did end up signing this summer, Rasmus Hojlund, is familiar with another one of his new team’s upcoming opponents. The six-cap international was born in the Danish capital and plied his trade at FC Copenhagen before moving abroad, aged 18, to Sturm Graz in Austria.

Still only 20 years of age, Hojlund is looking to make a name for himself on Europe’s grandest stage. His debut season in England will also be his first time taking part in the main draw of the Champions League, after featuring in the qualifying rounds with Sturm Graz in 2022.

The only previous Champions League meetings between United and the current champions of Denmark came in the 2006/07 group stage. Paul Scholes opened the scoring in a 3-0 home win for United. Two weeks later, the Red Devils fell to a 1-0 defeat in the Danish capital.

These teams also met in the Covid-stricken Europa League in 2019/20. Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty in extra-time to see United victorious in their single-legged quarter-final tie at a neutral venue in Cologne, Germany.

As for United’s third and final opponent in Group A, there is also an element of shared history with Turkish outfit Galatasaray. The teams are due to share a Champions League group for a fourth time.

They met in back-to-back European campaigns in 1993/94 and 1994/95. Roy Keane and David Beckham found the back of the net for United in a 4-0 victory at Old Trafford, one year after Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona – two of the club’s most iconic captains – had scored in a 3-3 draw at the same venue. In each of the aforementioned seasons, Galatasaray and Man United played out a goalless stalemate in Istanbul.

More recently, in the 2012/13 season, either side won its home fixture by a single goal to nil. Michael Carrick scored the decisive goal at Old Trafford, before Burak Yilmaz was the match-winner at Turk Telekom Arena.

Juan Mata departed from Old Trafford in 2022, following an 11-year stay in the English top flight. The ex-Spain international made 285 appearances in United colours before joining the red-and-yellow of Galatasaray on a free transfer. Mata spent just a single season at Gala, together winning the 2022/23 Süper Lig.

RAMS Park is a seriously tough away venue, for any team, and Ten Hag’s charges will need to bring their A-game to the 52,600-seater stadium in the heart of Istanbul.

This is how Manchester United’s schedule looks for the Champions League group stage:

Matchday 1: Bayern Munich vs Man United – Allianz Arena – 20th September
– Tickets starting from £200 at SeatPick.

Matchday 2: Man United vs Galatasaray – Old Trafford – 3rd October
– Tickets starting from £71 at SeatPick.

Matchday 3: Man United vs FC Copenhagen – Old Trafford – 24th October
– Tickets starting from £71 at SeatPick.

Matchday 4: FC Copenhagen vs Man United – Parken Stadium – 8th November
– Tickets starting from £396 at SeatPick.

Matchday 5: Galatasaray vs Man United – RAMS Park – 29th November
– Tickets starting from £792 at SeatPick.

Matchday 6: Man United vs Bayern Munich – Old Trafford – 12th December
– Tickets starting from £153 at SeatPick.

The knockout stages will commence in February 2024, with the Champions League final scheduled for June 1st, 2024 at Wembley Stadium.

*All data and prices are accurate at time of publishing.

You may also like