Real Madrid will aim to house 70,000 supporters for their Champions League round-of-16 clash with Liverpool as they expect to make serious advancements to the Santiago Bernabeu renovation project.
Jurgen Klopp's side will travel to the Spanish capital trying to secure their place in the quarter-finals of the competition and in doing so will need to avenge their 1-0 defeat in last year's Stade de France final against the 14-time winners.
Having finished second in Group A, the Reds will host the La Liga and European Cup champions at Anfield on February 21, before making their first trip to the Santiago Bernabeu in eight years on March 15.
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However, the iconic stadium will look slightly alien when supporters visit in just over three months' time as it is currently experiencing huge redevelopment works which could end up costing the club in the excess of €1bn euros, according to Mundo Deportivo.
Since formally announcing the grand plans to enhance the stadium in 2018, the 75-year-old stadium has undergone extensive renovation work both internally and externally, which has resulted in Carlo Ancelotti's side playing in front of a reduced capacity of 61,000 since moving back to the stadium last September. Los Blancos had previously played fixtures at their Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano training base while supporters were unable to attend matches during the coronavirus pandemic.
But reports from Spain are now claiming that Madrid are hoping to use the second leg of their tie against the Reds to increase their operating capacity to just over 85% as they close in on the completion of the expansion.
"For the white club, there is a date set in relation to the works and especially focused in terms of capacity," reads a report in the Spanish publication AS. "Real Madrid-Liverpool in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. The objective is, by then, to add locations up to 70,000. It will not be until March 15 and there is time."
While domestic duties have paused for the World Cup in Qatar, operations have resumed as normal in Madrid and with Ancelotti's experiencing an 81-day break between La Liga home games against Cadiz on November 10 and the visit of Real Sociedad on January 29, it is hoped a considerable amount of the procedure can be finalised by the time the second half of the season resumes.
Earlier this month Liverpool Supporters' group Spirit of Shankly raised their concerns at the initial allocation the club had received from Real Madrid for the tie, which sat at just 1,800 and included just four wheelchair bays, in an open letter to CEO Billy Hogan.
Article 38 of UEFA's regulations for Champions League games states that visiting clubs should be granted an allocation of at least 5%. However the initial 1,800 provided by Madrid equates to just 3%.
On December 6, Liverpool Football Club confirmed that they would be contacting UEFA in regard to the proposed allocation and admitted it was "significantly less than expected".
If Madrid were to increase their capacity to 70,000 for the fixture, the Spanish giants could be forced to award the Reds an allocation of 3,500 in line with the competitions statutes.
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