The final bid for the 2027 Champions League surprisingly receives a rival to Atlético Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano

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Azerbaijan wants to host the 2027 Champions League final after being excluded by Milan's San Siro.

The two expressions of interest for the men's showpiece came from the Olympic Stadium in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, and the Estadio Metropolitano, Atletico Madrid's stadium that hosted the 2019 final.

Final proposals must be submitted by March 19, 2025, but Azerbaijan's bid raises the prospect of the easternmost Champions League final and the first in the former Soviet Union since Real Madrid's 2018 triumph in Kiev. The 2022 game was scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg but was moved to Paris following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Olympic Stadium has a capacity of 69,870 spectators and hosted the 2019 Europa League final when Arsenal's Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan did not travel to Azerbaijan out of concerns for his safety amid the ongoing conflict between the neighboring countries.

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Meanwhile, the Principality Stadium in Cardiff is one of four possible venues for the 2027 women's final, alongside the Camp Nou in Barcelona, ​​​​the National Stadium in Warsaw and St. Jakob Park in Basel.

The Welsh capital hosted the 2017 Women's Champions League final, albeit at the Cardiff City Stadium, while the men's final was played at the Principality Stadium in the same year.

The men's final will be held in Munich in 2025 and in Budapest in 2026. The 2027 game had been awarded to San Siro but UEFA decided last month it could not take place there after the city of Milan failed to provide guarantees it would be ready during renovations.

The tender process has been reopened, with Baku and Madrid the two cities that have so far expressed interest. Madrid has hosted five Champions League finals so far, the first four of which were at Real's Bernabeu Stadium.