Real Betis ramp up Rangers security as Europa League decider slapped with 'high risk' tag

Spanish authorities have officially declared Rangers' Europa League showdown in Seville against Real Betis a 'high risk' match.

Philippe Clement's side need to win in Seville to be certain of qualification or match Sparta Prague's result against Aris Limassol in the other game in the group stage. Rangers will be backed by a couple of thousand fans in their official allocation, with several hundred more expected to travel and gain tickets for the home end.

And that's prompted the Spanish authorities to declare the match high risk Spain's Ministry of the Interior stated: "The Permanent Commission of the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sports has declared the Real Betis v Rangers match in the Europa League to be high risk."

The measures are set to include an increase in security forces and police officers - up to 1800 according to one local media report - both inside the ground and across the city for the crunch tie.

It will be the second game in Seville this year that a match involving a Scottish team has been tagged as high risk by the Spanish police. Scotland's Euro 2024 qualifier in the city was also deemed as high risk - unusually for a game involving the Tartan Army - but passed without any major incidents.