NYON, Switzerland (AP) - Baku and Madrid are bidding to host the 2019 Champions League final, UEFA said Friday.
The Olympic Stadium in the Azerbaijani capital will be a 2020 European Championship venue, and Atletico Madrid’s new Metropolitano Stadium will open this year. Both have capacities of about 70,000.
UEFA said its executive committee will choose a host in September.
UEFA has returned to an open tender process after years of awarding the most prestigious match in world club soccer without bids.
This season’s Champions League final will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, which was overlooked for Euro 2020.
Next year, the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine, will host the match weeks before the World Cup kicks off in neighboring Russia.
Spain has not hosted the game since 2010, when Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Baku would be only the second eastern bloc venue for a European Cup or Champions League final. Moscow hosted the 2008 final at the Luzhniki Stadium.
With the time in Azerbaijan two hours ahead of central Europe, the match could kick off at 11 p.m. local time.
Seven stadiums have entered the 2019 Europa League final bid contest. They include Baku, Euro 2020 venue Hampden Park in Glasgow and the home stadiums of Besiktas in Istanbul and Sevilla. Germany has offered two choices - Frankfurt and Stuttgart - though only one can be officially considered. The other contender is Tbilisi, Georgia, which has hosted a UEFA Super Cup.
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