Azerbaijan and Spain to compete to host Champions League final in 2027 after Milan pull out

NYON, Switzerland — Azerbaijan and Spain have both declared their interest in hosting the men’s Champions League final in 2027 after UEFA reopened the bidding for Europe’s biggest club game.

The match will be staged at Baku’s Olympic Stadium or Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano after UEFA named them as the two interested bidders on Wednesday.

Their final proposals must be submitted by March 19, UEFA said, with a decision on who will host the final expected in May.

The search for a new venue opened after UEFA’s executive committee decided not to allocate the final to Milan’s San Siro stadium.

UEFA had given the city of Milan more time to show that the Giuseppe Meazza stadium would be available during the planned renovation works between the 2026 Winter Olympics celebrations and the holding of Euro 2020 matches. 2032. The municipal authorities were ultimately unable to give these guarantees.

Baku hosted European Championship matches in 2021 and also hosted the Europa League final between Chelsea and Arsenal in 2019.

The Metropolitano Stadium has hosted the Champions League final before, in 2019, when Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0.

UEFA also announced on Wednesday that there are four interested bids for the 2027 Women’s Champions League final: Poland (Warsaw); Spain (Barcelona), Switzerland (Basel) and Wales (Cardiff).