Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admits he had no idea Stamford Bridge would be blocked from selling out for their clash with Arsenal.
The Blues host Arsenal in West London on Wednesday night, with the number of fans set to be limited to around 25,000 season-ticket holders only, compared to its capacity of more than 40,000. The limit comes due to UK government sanctions against club owner Roman Abramovich.
And manager Tuchel revealed he was unaware of the ticket situation, calling on fans to "push a bit more" to make up for the lack of supporters.
When informed that it would only be season-ticket holders there, the German looked quizzical before the situation was explained to him by the club's press officer.
Tuchel then added: "Oh, OK. Erm, that is not an advantage because we want to play home matches and in general we want to play in front of a full stadium and the game is for the spectators and supporters. That's bad news, actually.
"I was not aware of it. Maybe someone told me and I forgot it! Let's turn things around, maybe everyone (there) is aware of that and pushes a little bit more. We lack quantity but we should not lack quality of support.
"Against Leicester last season after Covid, it was the first time spectators were allowed at the Bridge, it was like 15,000 and the players said it felt like a full stadium. So hopefully, we can be the spark that can bring everybody into a (better) mood."
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