Uefa has revealed that Munich and St Petersburg are the only applicants to host the 2021 Champions League final.
It means the final will be played at either the Krestovsky Stadium in Russia, which has a 64,287 capacity and played host to a total of seven games at last summer’s hugely successful Russian World Cup.
It’s unsurprising that the Russian Football Union is looking to put the stadium forward after it’s been rumoured to have cost around $1.5bn, taking over a decade to construct.
On the other hand, Munich’s Allianz Arena is the home of German champions, Bayern Munich and hosted the final in 2012, when Didier Drogba dramatically clinched the European Cup for Chelsea from Bayern Munich.
The decision on where the final will be hosted will be made in the middle of 2019, at a similar time the governing body will decide on the location for the 2021 Europa League, with Vienna, Tbilisi and Seville all putting their names in the hat to host the tournament.
Seville is likely to be seen as the favourite to win this race, with both Real Betis and serial winners Sevilla playing in the tournament this year having spectacular infrastructure, to host a final. However, Uefa’s desire to expand European football to new regions, could increase the chances of Georgian capital Tbilisi.
