Riyadh Air Metropolitano Away Fans Guide: The North Upper Tier and the Walk from Céfiro

The main away section is at the top of Fondo Norte, and only your own club can sell it

If you are travelling with your club to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, the designated away section is high in the north end, and the exact blocks and gate come from whatever your own club sends you. Some ticket categories sit elsewhere: for Tottenham in March 2026, Category 1 tickets were in home blocks 105 to 107. The fan information Atlético wrote for Inter's supporters in November 2025 puts them in "the North Stand Upper Blocks 313-319 and 413-419", reached "from gates 23 & 24". Eintracht Frankfurt's 2025 guide and Liverpool's from 2020 name the same blocks and gates. Published guides have sometimes listed narrower block ranges: the Football Ground Guide put Arsenal's fans in 313-315 and 413-416 in April 2026, and a LaLiga derby sector appears to have been 313-314 and 413-414.

From the home stands that corner looks small. My impression from the other side was of a fenced-off patch near the top of the stand, and I have never checked from there whether it carries on behind the goal. Frankfurt told its fans that the front row of the away area is occupied by stewards throughout, and Atlético's sheet mentions "a curtain net to prevent articles being thrown in front of the away sector".

Two visiting clubs have published their own numbers: Arsenal had 3,476 tickets at £43.45 for the semi-final in April 2026, and Liverpool 3,306 at £42.81 in 2021. UEFA's 2026/27 regulations require at least 5 per cent of the UEFA spectator capacity for visitors and say that "in no case" may the price exceed €50. LaLiga runs a separate scheme. Atlético joined the 2025-26 Grada Visitante arrangement, which caps the price at €30, and Osasuna sold 558 nominative seats at that price to its own members in October 2025.

The route to one of those seats runs through your club. Atlético's "Normativa aplicable a socios y espectadores", the rulebook linked from the stadium website, makes the visiting club the seller, requires a nominative sale listing buyers and their ID numbers, and allows identity checks at the turnstile and during the match. Anyone other than the named holder is refused entry, and ejection follows if it is noticed inside. The stadium windows sell no away seats, and members of organised groups that are not on the official supporters' register can be refused entry even with tickets bought elsewhere.

Formats differ from club to club, so go by what yours sends. Frankfurt emailed print-at-home tickets and Tottenham PDFs to scan from a phone, while Arsenal made every supporter collect in Spain on production of a physical passport. Bodø/Glimt's fans were emailed theirs by Atlético, after a ticketing error forced a reissue the day before the match.

Line 5 to Canillejas, then the walk up from Plaza de Céfiro

Several visiting clubs tell their supporters outright to avoid metro Line 7. Frankfurt told its fans firmly not to use Line 7, saying it was meant for home supporters travelling to the stadium. Leverkusen's guide says the same of the orange line, and Real Madrid told its fans to avoid it in March 2025, because Atlético fans use it. Atlético's own sheet for Inter and Liverpool's guide route fans to Canillejas on Line 5, the green line, and say nothing about keeping off Line 7. Tottenham lists Line 7 instead, with a ten-minute uphill walk to the away turnstiles. Entrance 24, the one Tottenham names, is at the opposite end of the ground from that station.

The meeting point has been the same square for years. Plaza de Céfiro, next to Canillejas, appears in the fan information from Leverkusen, Frankfurt and Tottenham, and in Spanish reporting on the Real Madrid and Barcelona ties. From the square it is about 1.8 km, 25 to 30 minutes along Avenida de Luis Aragonés, up what Tottenham's page calls a steep hill, with the Policía Nacional escorting the column.

Departure times sit close together for a 21:00 kick-off. Leverkusen's fan march was due to set off at 18:00, Frankfurt told its supporters 18:30 at the latest, and Real Madrid's column left Céfiro at 18:30 in March 2025, the time its own fans had been given. The plan published before that match had it at the entrances around 19:00. How long before that you stand in the square is yours to choose, and the examples run wide: Barcelona's fans were reported gathering from 15:00, while Spanish police told Liverpool's in 2021 to arrive two to three hours early. Telemadrid reported in April 2026 that residents want the meeting point moved, several thousand fans overflowing a small square.

Leaving is the part I would plan hardest. You may be held back after the whistle: Frankfurt told its fans the away blocks would be shut for at least 30 minutes, and Tottenham that supporters could be held back for a minimum of 30 minutes. Leverkusen put no number on it and said the police decide how long. For the Real Madrid tie in March 2025 the plan set out beforehand was more than an hour in the away section, followed by an escort back to Céfiro once the streets had cleared. Metro de Madrid runs until about 01:30 on the stadium's own account, and the car parks take only people who booked ahead. Being held back that long changes where a visiting supporter wants to sleep, and our guide to Madrid hotels for a match day treats the away evening as a separate problem. Routes and fares are in our Metropolitano transport guide.

Four away guides listed 19:00 for a 21:00 kick-off, but they do not all agree on bags

The guides written for Inter, Frankfurt, Leverkusen and Tottenham all listed 19:00 as the opening time for a 21:00 kick-off. Atlético's sheet for Inter calls it the turnstile time, the other three the stadium opening time. The stadium's visitor page publishes no gate time, so check your club's guide, because the time can change. The guides for Inter and Liverpool said admission closed once the second half had begun and that there was no re-entry; Frankfurt and Leverkusen also said nobody gets in from the start of the second half. Check your own club's guide for the current match. Atlético's sheet mentions three check points with body searches, and Frankfurt's the possible use of police dogs.

Alcohol is not sold in the away section, and the law bans bringing it in or drinking it in the stadium. Article 4.1 of Spain's Ley 19/2007 prohibits "la introducción, venta y consumo de toda clase de bebidas alcohólicas" in facilities where sporting competitions are held. Atlético's information for Inter says alcohol will not be served in the stadium, and Frankfurt told its fans there would be none on sale in the away area. Turning up under the influence is separately prohibited by Article 6.1 d.

Atlético's information for Inter permits flags and banners of 3 m by 2 m, and sends anything larger to [email protected] at least 48 hours ahead. The rulebook requires written permission and flame-retardant material for any other banner. Leverkusen and Frankfurt both told their supporters that flagpoles were banned for their matches. "Flagpoles are banned in Madrid," Leverkusen wrote. Read the guide for your own match before you pack a pole. Drums and megaphones may only come in with groups listed in the official supporters' register, and Frankfurt's allocation was one megaphone and one open-bottomed drum.

Anything covering the face is banned under the rulebook, and Tottenham's prohibited list says the same. Bag size is the one number I cannot give you, because the guides do not all use the same limit: Atlético's sheet for Inter, Liverpool's guide and Leverkusen's all give 10x20x25 cm, while Frankfurt allows 55x35x25 cm and Tottenham nothing bigger than A4. None of the three is in the club's general rules, so bring a small bag. What those rules do say is in our Metropolitano bag policy guide.

The disorder I can confirm happened outside the ground, at the home team's reception and among visiting fans

The clearest recent case happened during the reception for the home team on Avenida de Arcentales. Before the semi-final against Arsenal on 29 April 2026 a group broke through the police cordon and officers charged to clear the crowd; Infobae reported one 21-year-old arrested, 19 identified and six put forward for sanction. The police union Jupol condemned the flares and objects thrown at officers, and footage showed Arsenal fans in the tear gas.

The Real Madrid tie in March 2025 is the most detailed recent example I have. Real Madrid's fans gathered at Céfiro, left at 18:30 behind a police escort, and okdiario reported that the walk itself passed without incident. The same outlet reported later that evening that Real Madrid's supporters had fought each other near the stadium, one group of its own fans against another. Police charged, and at least one person was arrested. Around 500 Real Madrid fans were cleared out of the area around the ground. The plan published beforehand had the away section held back for more than an hour after the whistle, then escorted to Céfiro once the streets had cleared. Real Madrid had told its own supporters not to show shirts or colours until they were under police protection.

Nothing in the rules bans away colours, and I would still be careful

Atlético's rulebook does not ban your club's colours. What it has is Article 7 f, a condition of staying in the ground: "No realizar actuaciones de aficionado visitante en zona local, cuando suponga un riesgo para la seguridad y el orden público", which prohibits behaving as a visiting supporter in the home area when that risks safety and public order. Tottenham was blunter with its own fans, telling anyone with Category 1 seats, in home blocks 105 to 107, not to wear Spurs colours there. My advice is no stronger. I found no rule banning an ordinary away shirt in the designated away section, and the rules on face coverings, banners and prohibited symbols still apply there. Outside it I would still be careful in club colours. Real Madrid told its travelling supporters in March 2025 not to show shirts or supporter items openly until they were under police protection or inside the ground.

For the hours before the escort, Atlético's own fan information sends visiting fans to Plaza Mayor, surrounded by bars, with Sol the nearest metro. Liverpool used the same square in 2020, and the Football Ground Guide named Bad Company 1920 on Calle de Miguel Moya for Arsenal fans. From the UK government's Spain advice: street drinking is illegal in parts of Spain and carries an on-the-spot fine, and you must show photo ID if an officer asks.

Atlético's sheet says there will be no organised screening in the fan meeting areas and that fans without tickets should not travel. I could find no fan zone for visiting fans. Our matchday Madrid guide is how a home supporter spends the day.

If your club's allocation is gone, check the conditions before buying a home-section seat

The club sells its own seats at face value, and for the autumn 2026 run it released several home fixtures together rather than waiting until each match was close. Manchester United and Bayern opened to members on 1 September and to everyone else on 3 September, on the club's ticket pages; the league fixtures up to December all went on general sale on 26 August, three weeks to three and a half months before kick-off. When I went through the Osasuna sale on 8 September, the cheapest seat a non-member could buy behind a goal was €50, in the upper tier of Fondo Sur; the €30 at the top of that area was for member-only blocks below. The queue and the seat map are in our tickets guide.

I would consider a home-section seat only where the match and the seller allow visiting supporters in it. Frankfurt warned its fans in 2025 that anyone holding a ticket outside the allocated areas could be refused entry or removed, and P1 Travel's current Champions League listings for Atlético carry "No away fans allowed". Where the conditions do allow it, you hear the ground the way the home end hears it, and eight days before that Osasuna match there were still general-sale seats. That varies by opponent and date. Sitting among home supporters is the situation Tottenham warned its own fans about, so keep the shirt in the bag. A place in the official away allocation, whose size for 2026-27 has not been announced, comes through your club.

When the club has nothing left. The first place I look is P1 Travel, which carries the Agencia Autorizada seal on the club's list of agencies and guarantees up to three seats together. Booking through the agency links in this article may earn Cholismo Lab a small commission, at no extra cost to you. If P1 has nothing for your date, Hellotickets carries Atlético home-match listings as well. On 2 September 2026, during the derby sale, many of its Atlético listings gave the section only as "Shortside" or "Longside" with no block number. Neither is a route into the official away end, and P1's Champions League products say so on the page, so read the exact section and any supporter restrictions before you pay.

Allocations and gate times change, and so does the rulebook. I will update this article when the 2026-27 visiting clubs publish their fan information.