English fans fill Madrid ahead of Champions League final
More than 30,000 English fans are expected to travel to watch the final at the 68,000-capacity Metropolitano Stadium.
Madrid: The Latest on the Champions League final between Tottenham and Liverpool.
Thousands of Liverpool and Tottenham fans are gathering under the sunny and clear skies in Madrid hours before their teams face off in the all-English Champions League final.
More than 30,000 English fans are expected to travel to watch the final at the 68,000-capacity Metropolitano Stadium. Liverpool and Tottenham were each allocated nearly 17,000 tickets, but Spanish authorities expect many thousands more to make the trip.
"I came out here. I flew on my own, I do not have a ticket," said Liverpool fan Frank O'Leary. "I just came to be with all the beautiful Reds fans and sing my heart out and watch the game in a bar.
Hundreds of mostly Red-clad Liverpool fans also arrived by train from as far away as Barcelona on Spain's eastern coast early on Saturday. Available hotel rooms are practically non-existent. Weeks before the final the few rooms remaining were running for over a thousand euros.
More than 4,700 security personnel are being deployed by Spanish authorities in what they say are unprecedented measures to guarantee safety at the sporting event.
Liverpool is looking to become European champion for the sixth time and Tottenham is chasing glory for the first time.
Tens of thousands of English fans are descending on Madrid for the first all-English Champions League final in 11 years on Saturday.
Tottenham and Liverpool didn't make it to Madrid the easy way on the field. Both had to overcome 3-0 deficits in their Champions League semifinals, with Liverpool stunning Barcelona and Tottenham defeating Ajax with almost the last kick of the second leg.
Tottenham hasn't reached any continental final since winning the now-defunct UEFA Cup in 1984. And this season has been only the north London club's sixth appearance in the European Cup - with five qualifications coming since 2010.
Liverpool is England's most successful side in the European Cup, lifting the trophy five times - most recently in 2005. But the Merseyside club lost the 2007 final and again last year to Real Madrid.
That was the sixth successive final Juergen Klopp has lost, with the Liverpool manager yet to win a trophy since joining the team in 2015. The team only missed out on a first English title since 1990 when Manchester City defended its title by one-point.