Man City v Chelsea: Champions League Final 2021 will be held at Porto's Estádio do Dragão

In this Tuesday, June 4, 2019 file photo, a general view of the Dragao stadium in Porto, Portugal. - Copyright Luis Vieira/AP

By Euronews with AP

Published on 13/05/2021 - 12:58•Updated 15:32

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Chelsea and City fans will able to buy tickets to attend the final in person as UEFA releases 6,000 seats to each club.

UEFA has confirmed that the Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City will be held in Porto with 12,000 fans allowed to attend.

The all-English final was moved from Istanbul to the 50,000-capacity Estádio do Dragão for the May 29 showpiece, UEFA said Thursday.

Tickets available from Thursday

Chelsea and City fans will able to buy tickets to attend the game in person - for the first time in more than a year - when UEFA releases 6,000 seats to each team from Thursday.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said. "To deprive those supporters of the chance to see the match in person was not an option and I am delighted that this compromise has been found."

The all-English final won't be in England

The initial backup plan had been to use Wembley Stadium in London, but talks with the British government stalled over being able to secure quarantine waivers for the guests and broadcasters required by UEFA to attend the game.

England has pandemic restrictions including on travel from Turkey, which would have stopped fans from being able to attend the game in Istanbul.

“We accept that the decision of the British Government to place Turkey on the red list for travel was taken in good faith and in the best interests of protecting its citizens from the spread of the virus but it also presented us with a major challenge in staging a final featuring two English teams," Ceferin said.

Flight prices from UK to Portugal have surged

Portugal is on a list of 12 places that people can travel to without having to quarantine on return to the UK.

Since the British government announced they would lift some restrictions on international travel from May 17 there's been a surge in demand for people booking holidays in Portugal.

For the weekend of the Champions League final at the end of May direct flights from both London and Manchester to Lisbon or Porto were already high on Wednesday at around €570 return.

Last year's Champions League final was also moved from Istanbul to Portugal but it was played without fans.