Stadium news #37
The next UEFA Champions League final is scheduled to take place at the Stade de France in the French city of Paris. UEFA has decided to move the match from the Russian city of St. Petersburg. On Thursday, Russia began military action on Ukrainian territory. People all over Europe expressed expectation that UEFA would apply sanctions in response to the war started by the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The date of the final has remained the same. The match is scheduled to take place on Saturday 28 May.
Previous finals at the Stade de France
The Stade de France hosted two UEFA Champions League finals. The first one took place on 24 May 2000. Real Madrid won 3-0 against Valencia CF in front of 80,000 spectators. The second UEFA Champions League final at the Stade de France was also won by a Spanish football club, when FC Barcelona defeated Arsenal 2-1. The match took place on 17 May 2006. The Stade de France also hosted a FIFA World Cup final. In 1998, the national football team of the French Republic won their first-ever FIFA World Cup title at the venue after beating Brazil. Zinédine Zidane scored twice against Brazil and Emmanuel Laurent Petit scored the other goal in the final.
Expelled
The national football team of Russia has been expelled from the 2022 FIFA World Cup after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, FIFA announced in a joint statement with UEFA. The Russian football club Spartak Moscow has been expelled from the UEFA Europa League. Spartak was supposed to face the German side RB Leipzig in the round of 16 of the second-tier competition of European club football. AS Monaco, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Crvena zvezda, Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Barcelona, FC Porto, Galatasaray, Olympique lyonnais, the Rangers, RB Leipzig, Real Betis, SC Braga, Sevilla FC and West Ham United are still in the race for the UEFA Europa League victory after the ban of Spartak Moscow.
