Getting to Kiev is proving to be a nightmare
Watching your team in the Champions League final is the absolute pinnacle of being a football fan. It's an experience that very few of us get to experience on the TV, let alone in the flesh. Unless you're a Real Madrid fan, I guess, as it's an annual event for them.
That might help explain why so many Real Madrid fans are returning their tickets to next weekend's Champions League final against Liverpool. While more than 24,000 fans applied for tickets in the Real Madrid section, which will only hold 12,000 people, more than 2,000 have been sent back by those lucky enough to acquire one through the ballot.
The reason behind it is understood to be the logistical complications and financial cost of getting to Kiev, where the final is being held.
Combine the cost of the match ticket with flights and trying to find accommodation and it's easy to understand why this might happen. Madrid's local rivals, Atlético, won the Europa League final against Marseille in Lyon this week, but 1,300 tickets of their allocation were not used. Although, in this situation, the small quantity of tickets sold is more likely to be due to fears over clashes with Marseille's ultras.
