Hundreds of Anfield regulars have missed out on tickets for Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final first leg with Manchester City.

Next Wednesday’s eagerly anticipated showdown with Pep Guardiola’s side quickly sold out and among those left crestfallen were LFC members who had attended all four previous European home games this season.

The issue stems from the fact that UEFA’s allocation has increased for this game and there has also been greater demand from the club’s Priority Rights Holders - meaning there were fewer seats available for season ticket holders and members.

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Liverpool are contractually obliged to set aside a certain number of tickets for UEFA and its partners and that figure goes up round by round.

Previously this season, UEFA haven’t used the full allocation which has enabled the Reds to sell the returns. However, such is the interest in the all-Premier League clash that this time UEFA have taken the maximum amount which the ECHO understands is around 2,500 tickets.

Liverpool also had no option but to respect the agreement with Priority Rights Holders which dates back to when former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett bought the club in 2007.

When the American duo completed their takeover, as well as paying shareholders £5,000 per share, they also gave them a lifetime guarantee that their privilege of being able to access tickets would be protected. Liverpool’s current owners looked into the legitimacy of that deal and were told it was legally binding.

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Around 1,500 Priority Rights Holders are entitled to buy tickets for home cup matches, semi-finals and finals. There was a low take-up rate in the group stage of the Champions League but the quarter-final with City led to hundreds of tickets being bought via this route.

Some angry Reds fans, who had been to all three group games at Anfield as well as the last 16 tie with Porto, have questioned whether more seats for the visit of City had been handed over to club partners such as Thomas Cook, who offer match packages. However, Thomas Cook’s allocation of 384 hospitality seats is the same for every Anfield fixture, regardless of the opposition.

With more media present and hundreds of seats directly behind the LED perimeter screens out of action, Anfield’s overall capacity for European games is reduced to about 52,500.