Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he was wrong to invite ticketless supporters to Basel for the Europa League final next week.
After the Reds booked themselves a place in the final with a 3-1 aggregate win over Villarreal last Thursday, Klopp encouraged supporters to travel to the Swiss city even if they do not have a ticket.
The comments were made after it was revealed by UEFA that Liverpool will receive 10,236 tickets for the May 18 showpiece against Sevilla in St Jakob-Park, which holds 35,000.
At the weekend, Klopp backtracked on his remarks after learning that tens of thousands of ticketless fans in the city is incompatible with the club's policy as well as the police.
"Last time I spoke about Basel I spoke like a supporter and I invited all Liverpool fans to Basel," Klopp told reporters. "That was not too smart, to be honest. Basel is a nice city but it is not ready for us and it was my mistake. I have to take back the invitation to Basel.
"Please only people with tickets go there because everything else will be chaos and we don't want this, we have to concentrate on football. It is wonderful to be in the stadium but if you cannot be there then stay at home or come to Liverpool and watch the game together with friends and let's have a party after this.
"It is really, really, really necessary that you now listen - most of the time you can ignore what I say but now it is important. We have to send the team plus 10,000 fans and the rest all over the world can enjoy the game with best friends and family."
Next Wednesday will mark the second cup final to which Klopp has guided Liverpool since he took over as manager seven months ago.
Danielle Joynson
