Ange Postecoglou will lead his Celtic team into a do-or-die Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night at Celtic Park.
Despite impressing against some of Europe's biggest names this season, Celtic find themselves bottom of their group with just a single point after four games.
Their Ukrainian opponents, by contrast, have stunned the continent. They have overcome the adversity of the shocking war ongoing in their home country, and have managed to take five points from four games and put themselves within range of the knockout stages.
With the horrifying scenes in Ukraine, Shakhtar's success has been the most touching story of this year's Champions League season so far.
They will travel to Celtic Park on Tuesday night, but some of their fans will have to fork out big time for tickets. When asked about the steep ticket prices in Glasgow, Postecoglou gave a somewhat terse answer, and ultimately refused to comment.
Ange Postecoglou: Celtic boss gives cold answer to Shakhtar ticketing question
The cap of ticket prices for away fans at UEFA club games is £60 - the price that Celtic have set for visiting Shakhtar Donetsk fans on Tuesday night.
Given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, many of the fans who will be looking to travel to Glasgow are refugees, meaning that the ticket prices have drawn understandable ire from Shakhtar fans.
Ange Postecoglou was asked about the steep ticket prices during Monday's press conference, and was slow to comment on the situation.
CELTIC V SHAKHTAR TICKETING CONTROVERSY 🤑🫥🎟️
During yesterday’s press conference we asked Postecoglou for his thoughts on away end tickets for Shakhtar fans costing UEFA cap price of £60 given the war / refugee situation
Our Q&A wasn’t widely shared anywhere so here it is 👇 pic.twitter.com/X7qB56PsWU— Zorya Londonsk (@ZoryaLondonsk) October 25, 2022
It was put to Postecoglou that the ticket prices were higher than those put to travelling Celtic fans at the return game in Warsaw, before he was asked for his thoughts on the expensive ticket prices, and whether he knew of any charity movements ahead of the game to offset this. His answer was somewhat short:
I respect the question and you obviously did a lot of research into your question.
But you would have also realised before asking that question how much time and thought process I have in the ticketing when I'm preparing a team for a Champions League match or any manager for that matter.
So I think you asked that question to be mischievous. I think if you wanna ask that question and you have a real sort of desire to get an answer there's a more appropriate person to answer that question than me.
Though it may be fair of Postecoglou to suggest that he is not the right person to ask about the ticketing situation, his insistence that the question is "mischievous" does not reflect well, given the sensitivity of the situation. Indeed, the club has made several efforts to aid those from Ukraine.
Celtic have confirmed that Ukrainian children have been invited to fill the roles of mascots for the game, and will walk out alongside the teams ahead of Tuesday's crunch match. Celtic also confirmed that several hundred tickets will be donated to Ukrainians who have already settled in Glasgow, while they have previously made a £10,000 donation to the Scottish Refugee Council's efforts to aid those displaced by the war.
Celtic need to win Tuesday's game to give themselves a chance of staying in Europe. They have already been knocked out of the Champions League, but could still reach third place in the group. A win against Shakhtar would put them in contention to take the group's Europa League place, with the exact permutations depending on RB Leipzig's result against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
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