Champions League final set to hold in Portugal for second year running
Venue changed over COVID scare
The venue of the UEFA Champions League final has been changed from the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey to the Estadio Do Dragao, home ground of FC Porto following a series of meetings of the stakeholders involved in the planning of the game.
The change in venue comes only a week after the conclusion of the semifinals of the competition due to the inability of Istanbul to accept the large swathe of people who would be present at the game due to their COVID-19 guidelines. The final of this year’s competition is now set to hold in Portugal at the Estadio Do Dragao after the possibility of holding the game at the Wembley Stadium in London was ruled out.
The change in venue makes it all the more interesting as the Estadio Do Dragao is the only Stadium where Manchester City have failed to win in the Champions League this season, and Chelsea knocked out FC Porto over two legs in the quarterfinals albeit at a neutral venue- Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville. UEFA has announced that each of the participating teams will be given 6000 tickets each for the game.
This marks a second successive year of the finals of the UEFA Champions League being held in Portugal, after Bayern Munich won the title in Lisbon last year. Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel will definitely be looking to banish the demons from that night in Lisbon when he led Paris Saint Germain to a second place finish. Whether the change in venue makes any difference to the teams, no one can say, but it does add to what is already set to be an intriguing battle on May 29th.
