Champions League tickets: Which clubs demand the most from fans – and who gets the best offer?

Champions League football will be played for the first time at Villa Park tonight when Aston Villa host Bayern Munich.

It marks Villa's long-awaited return to the top of European football and they couldn't have faced stronger opponents in their first home game – Bayern were the opponents Villa beat in 1982 to win the European Cup.

However, if you're heading to Villa Park tonight, you'll have paid a reasonable amount for the privilege, as the cheapest seat for non-season ticket holders costs £85 ($113; €102).

Pricing has been a point of discussion in the Champions League for many years, but while away tickets for fans are now capped at €60, home fans are still subject to the whims of their clubs.

How do villa prices compare to the rest of Europe? Are they the most expensive? Or are some clubs actually offering tickets for all four home games in the Champions League group stage, which still cost less than a Villa ticket? Spoiler alert – yes, some do.

All prices listed below are adult entry prices which we have converted into pounds sterling.

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Aston Villa were heavily criticized when their prices were announced. The Aston Villa Supporters' Trust (AVST) described the club as “contactless” as average ticket prices were above Villa's Category A prices in the Premier League.

Villa have charged up to £97 for a Champions League home ticket against Bayern Munich this evening, with the cheapest ticket priced at £85. Season ticket holders receive reduced fares of between £82 and £70. Later this month they charge the same prices against Bologna.

The most expensive ticket for Liverpool Fans at Anfield cost less than Villa's cheapest Champions League ticket at £61. In Liverpool, some adult tickets in the Anfield Road stand start from just £30, while a small number in the top tier of the main stand cost just £9. Liverpool's prices are the same for every home game in the group stage.

Manchester City For the opening game against Inter Milan they charged similar prices to Liverpool, with the most expensive being £62.50 and the cheapest being £37.50. Against Sparta Prague later this month, tickets are cheaper, from £55 to £25.

Season ticket holders at arsenal All four Champions League group stage home games are included in the price of the season ticket (although the cheapest adult season ticket at The Emirates costs £1,073). Members who wanted to vote to get a ticket for last night's Paris Saint-Germain game would have to pay between £74.30 and £106.80, making their highest prices the most expensive in England.

However, Arsenal are offering their members cheaper tickets for their next home game against Shakhtar Donetsk, which is classified as a Category B game (PSG is Category A). These tickets cost between £42.60 and £62.60.

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Last season's semi-finalists Bayern Munich offer one of the cheapest tickets in the Champions League, with standing tickets in the bottom row behind one of the goals (and in two other corners) costing £15.80 for all Champions League games.

Elsewhere at the Allianz Arena, seats cost £49.93 to £99.86 for Category A games (the PSG group stage game only) and £41.60 to £83.22 for Category B games (Dinamo Zagreb, Benfica and Slovan Bratislava).

Borussia Dortmund Fans could choose to pay around 23 per cent more for their season ticket to guarantee tickets to their four Champions League home games (for example, a Category 4 seat costs £638 compared to £518 for a standard Bundesliga season ticket) . A season ticket including group stage matches costs £248.82.

Day tickets for the Champions League cost between £62.41 for the most expensive seats and £15.40 for standing, meaning Dortmund, like Bayern, offer some of the cheapest tickets in the competition.

StuttgartBack in the competition for the first time since 2009/10, they are offering a Champions League group stage ticket for all four games costing just £63.25 to get behind the goals (£15.81 per game) , with the maximum price being £416 for first-class seats (£104 per game). Prices for individual games cost exactly the same as the four-game package: from £15.81 to £104.

RB Leipzig also charge £15.81 for one of their goals. Most seats cost between £41.61 and £49.93 and the most expensive seat costs £99.86.

And we continue the theme that German clubs offer good value for money. Bayer Leverkusen sold lower league standing tickets behind one of the goals at home to AC Milan last night for just £13.31. Most seated tickets cost £36.62, while the most expensive seats in the main stand cost £64.08.

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Italy

The average prices of the four Italian clubs are more expensive than in Germany and are more in line with English prices.

JuventusThe most expensive seat for members for their game against Stuttgart later this month costs £71.57, while the cheapest tickets behind both goals cost £37.45. For non-members, prices range from £79.06 to £40.78.

AC Milan Prices vary and offer far cheaper tickets than Juventus, but also some seats that are significantly more expensive. The cheapest member's ticket at San Siro costs £15.81, while some grandstand tickets cost up to £140.64. Most tickets for Milan cost between £28.29 and £82.39.

The cheapest places to watch Inter Milan against Red Star Belgrade cost £24.13 last night, although most, similar to their city rivals, cost between £32.46 and £83.22

Bologna have sold packages containing four Champions League games for their first-ever top-level European Championship. Existing season ticket holders could buy a group stage ticket behind one of the goals for £99.86 to watch them take on Shakhtar Donetsk, Monaco, Lille and Borussia Dortmund, which equates to £24.96 per game. Gold seats in the main stand cost up to £624.14 for the four games, while most seats cost £266.30, which equates to £66.57 per game.

For their home game against Arsenal last month Atalanta The two goals were priced at £28.29, while VIP stand tickets were among the most expensive in the competition at £183.08. Most seats in the main stand cost between £66.57 and £91.54.

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Watch out Barcelona last night at home against Young Boys at the Olympic Stadium (Camp Nou is still being rebuilt) would have cost you £61.58 in the cheapest seats at the back of a stand behind the goal. Tickets for the lower tiers behind the goals cost £82.39, while the most expensive stand seats cost £135.65.

Neither Girona still real Madrid List ticket prices for non-members on their website. For Real's quarter-final against Manchester City last season, the cheapest seat in the top flight cost £73.23, while the most expensive stand seats cost £259.64.

Atletico Madrid offer members tickets that are 50 percent cheaper than general admission. Your cheapest Champions League tickets cost £24.97.

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The cheapest available resale seats in Parc des Princes to watch PSG against PSV later this month cost £62.41 on the club's official website, with first-class seats costing up to £262.14.

Lille Offering a four-match group stage ticket for £99.03, which works out to £24.75. Not bad since they play against Real Madrid, Juventus, Sturm Graz and Feyenoord.

Monaco Their season tickets include Champions League group stage tickets, which range from £199.72 to a whopping £1,413, although given the location there's probably no shortage of people who can afford them.

And the cheapest tickets for Champions League newcomers Brestwho play their European games 70 miles away at the Stade du Roudourou in Guingamp because their stadium does not meet UEFA standards cost £41.61, with the most expensive being £83.22. Add in a two-hour train ride and it's not exactly the cheapest evening.

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Rest of Europe

Celtic Offering a four-match group stage ticket for £184, which works out to £46 per game.

Croatian clubs are also at the cheaper end of the spectrum Dinamo Zagrebalthough the uncovered Maksimir Stadium is fairly described as one of the ugliest in Europe.

Tickets for tonight's game against Monaco cost just £15.81 for members or £24.13 for non-members. The most expensive is £49.93 for members and £58.25 for non-members.

Storm Graz The cheapest ticket for their game against Club Brugge tonight costs £37.45, with the most expensive ticket costing £107.35.

Sporty are offering members some of the cheapest Champions League tickets for their game against Manchester City next month. Prices range from £19.14 to £48.27.

Some of the most expensive prices in Europe can be found all over the city Benfica Estadio da Luz, where the cheapest ticket in the top league behind the goals for the game against Feyenoord later this month costs £81.14 for members. A mid-range seat on the sides costs £124.83 and the premium seats cost up to £212.21

These prices are not entirely in keeping with the two clubs' tradition of being elite clubs (Sporting) and popular clubs (Benfica).

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So what have we learned?

To answer the original question: Yes, Villa is one of the most expensive clubs to watch in the Champions League this season alongside Benfica, Barcelona and PSG. The cheapest tickets are all over £60.

Many clubs offer premium pitches that are more expensive than anything Villa Park has on offer, but when it comes to the lowest prices, Villa and Benfica are the worst losers.

As is often the case, if you want ticket prices that don't exploit your loyal fans, you should travel to Germany.

(Photos: Getty Images/Design: Dan Goldfarb)