Venue 2008 UEFA Champions League Final

the entrance uefa champions festival in red square, moscow

the luzhniki stadium in moscow selected venue match @ meeting of uefa executive committee in ljubljana, slovenia, on 4 october 2006. committee – decided venue 2009 final , 2008 , 2009 uefa cup finals @ same meeting – based decision on number of factors, including stadium capacity, safety , security facilities, , accessibility. other venues in contention estadio olímpico in sevilla, olympiastadion in berlin, wembley stadium in london, , stadio olimpico in rome, chosen host 2009 final.

the european cup final had never before been played in russia, making match easternmost final in tournament s history; however, luzhniki stadium had played host 1999 uefa cup final, in italian club parma beat french side marseille 3–0. because of difference in time zones, match kicked off @ 22:45 moscow time, making first champions league final start on 1 day , finish in next.

originally known grand arena of central lenin stadium, ground opened in 1956 new national stadium soviet union national football team. in 1973, served principal venue seventh summer universiade, before going on perform same function @ 1980 summer olympics. point, stadium s capacity 103,000; however, renovations in mid-1990s reduced capacity under 85,000. stadium given five-star status uefa in 1998, before hosting uefa cup final following year. stadium cope cold russian winters, grass pitch replaced artificial fieldturf surface in 2002. although uefa allowed matches in earlier rounds played on synthetic surface, mandated final should played on natural grass. turf shipped in slovakia final @ cost of £160,000, , laid on top of existing playing surface, resulting in pitch being 35 cm (14 in) higher normal. there concerns on players safety on new field, had relaid twice after patches died in transit.

as part of marketing match, unique design concept has been developed each champions league final since 1997, inspired cultural , historical heritage of host city. 2008 final s design announced on 31 october 2007 in ceremony @ luzhniki stadium, attended ambassador final, former russian goalkeeper rinat dasayev. design based on colour scheme of deep red , gold, inspired predominant colours of red square, kremlin , gold domes of moscow s cathedrals, , featured images of moscow skyline, uefa champions league logo , trophy rendered in russian artistic style, text in font similar cyrillic script.

as has taken place every champions league final since 1997, ceremonial handover of uefa champions league trophy held in host city; 2008 ceremony @ gum centre in moscow s red square on 3 april 2008. on behalf of 2007 champions milan, technical operations director , former player leonardo, , club director umberto gandini presented trophy uefa president michel platini, passed on mayor of moscow, yury luzhkov, displayed in 5 cities around country – kazan, yekaterinburg, krasnodar, saint petersburg , samara – before returning moscow ahead of final. in attendance @ ceremony final ambassador rinat dasayev , russian football union president vitaly mutko.