For four days Munich was the world capital of football. Tens of thousands of fans from all over the world invaded the city. It is rumored that over 60,000 fans traveled without a ticket to the match, most of them Inter fans, but with the hope of finding one. Few hours before the match, in Marienplatz, there were fans with cards on which was written “I buy a ticket to the Final, I offer €4,000”! Not enough! However, on the black market the cheapest tickets put on sale by UEFA for €190 were selling for €8,000. But even so, there were far too few left available for the huge demand.

75,000 people fit in the Allianz Arena and, probably, another 60,000 watched the Final in the Fan Zones set up by the organizers.

For example, the Fan Festival area at Olympiapark, where fans could take photos with the Champions League trophy, closed three hours before the starting whistle. There was simply no more room, and the German police sealed all the entrances, leaving thousands of people outside. However, they redirected to other areas and squares with giant screens.

Not only did ticket prices skyrocket, but so did accommodation prices. The huge parking lot in Olympiapark was filled with camper vans with Italian license plates.

In the Festival area, football fans enjoyed various activities, took photos with the trophy, a trophy that is 73.5 cm high and weighs 7.5 kg. The design belongs to Jürg Stadelmann, and its creation took 340 hours. There was also a giant trophy at the festival.

The highlight of the day before the Final was a 5 vs 5 Champions League legends tournament, which was won by FC Figo (Luis Figo’s team), who defeated Kaka’s Kings (Kaka’s team) in the final.

I was lucky enough that Natalia, one of my fellow journalists from Greece who came to Munich for the Grand Finale, offered me a ticket to the event that took place in the SAP Arena.

Sponsors organized small events that had as prizes either tickets to matches in the next Champions League season, or various souvenirs. All among stands with wursts, pizza, chips and beer. A 0.5 L beer cost €6.50, while 1 L pints were sold for €13.

At the stadium, where Andrei Plesnilă documented the event for DB-Sport.ro, it was a real spectacle. Celebrities, heads of state, former Champions League winning footballers and more, influencers, football officials from all continents, media representatives (525 journalists were accredited for the final), plus the supporters of the two teams started the evening with a Linkin Park mini-concert, followed by “Seven Nation Army” performed on the violin by the famous German musician David Garrett and the final moment of the opening ceremony.

Then, the Champions League anthem announced the teams’ entrance onto the pitch. And what an honor for Romania, the referees’ brigade led by Istvan Kovacs, assisted by Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi, stepped out first. It was also the moment when the French pitch revealed the scenography “Nous sommes invincibles – Paris” (We are invincible – Paris)!

Photo: Andrei Plesnila
Photo: Andrei Plesnila
Photo: Andrei Plesnila

What followed was a real football lesson taught by PSG. Any coach in the world should have been sitting in front of the TV with something to take notes on. It ended 5-0, and the refereeing was impeccable. Kovacs is to be appreciated for blowing the final whistle in the 90th minute, without prolonging the agony of the losers.

It was Luis Enrique’s moment, and the audience rewarded him. It was all for Xana, the Spanish coach’s 9-year-old daughter who passed away from cancer in August 2019. Another memorable image descended over the French stand, recalling a famous photo from after the 2015 Champions League final, won by Barcelona with Luis Enrique on the bench: Xana in a Barcelona shirt waving the Blaugrana flag alongside the coach.

Photo: Andrei Plesnila

The French fans reproduced the image, but with Xana in a PSG shirt and flag. “Even though she is no longer with us physically, I always feel her presence, even when we lose,” the Spanish coach said at the end, thanking the fans. “I was delighted with the banner displayed. But I don’t need to win a trophy to think about her. She is in my heart forever!”

PSG is on its first Champions League trophy, and Luis Enrique is on his second such performance.