Chelsea and Man Utd set for final

Chelsea and Man Utd set for final Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium prepares for the Champions League final
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Venue: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow Date: Weds, 21 May Kick-off: 1945 BST Coverage: Live on ITV1 and Sky Sports 1, BBC Radio Five Live, BBC Radio London 94.9, BBC Radio Manchester; BBC Sport website.

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Chelsea and Manchester United will make history on Wednesday as they meet in an all-English Champions League final.

Concerns over the Luzhniki Stadium pitch and the late kick-off will be put to one side as two English sides meet in the final for the first time.

The Moscow surface has been described as "disappointing" by its groundsman and the late kick-off could see the game finish after 1am local time.

United won in 1968 and 1999, while this is the first final Chelsea have made.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard admitted the time of the kick-off would make for a "slightly longer day", while United defender Rio Ferdinand joked that "it wouldn't matter if the game was played at four in the morning".

The final falls 50 years after the Munich air crash claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight United players.

United will be hoping to mark the anniversary by lifting the greatest prize in European club football.

Ahead of the match much attention has been focused on the condition of the pitch.

The old synthetic pitch was ripped up after England's Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia in October and a new grass one laid in readiness for the final.

But experts decided it was too bumpy, prompting stadium authorities to lay another using turf from Slovakia at a cost of £160,000.

And BBC Radio 5 Live's Alastair Yeomans in Moscow said the pitch looked "patched up" in places.

"The pitch doesn't look too good," he said. "If you look closely you can see where it has been patched up, particularly around the centre circle. It's possible the ball won't run true in places."

Uefa is confident the pitch, home to Torpedo and Spartak Moscow, will not be a problem, although it admitted it may not look good.

606: DEBATE Moscow is my oyster and I intend to find out what the chat is in this maverick city BBC Sport's Jonathan Stevenson

But English groundsman Matt Frost, who oversaw the laying of a new grass surface at the Moscow venue just 15 days ago, said he had concerns with the new surface.

"The pitch is acceptable but it is a big personal disappointment for me," Frost told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Things didn't go well from the start, the pitch has only been down 15 days."

Frost had claimed last week that he would provide a "Rolls-Royce of a pitch" for the final, but now he has reservations.

"I'm totally disappointed with the whole project and what we are presenting for the final," he said.

"My main achievement is that we have got a new pitch down.

"If I hadn't persuaded them, they would have used the old one which would have been a catastrophe."

Fans head to airports for Moscow exodus

After arriving in Moscow on Monday, the two teams trained on the pitch on Tuesday.

Chelsea suffered a late injury scare when defender Ashley Cole looked in some pain after a strong challenge from Claude Makelele.

Apart from Cole, both teams are expected to be at full-strength for the final that will be played in front of 69,500 fans inside the Luzhniki Stadium and a television audience of millions.

More than 40,000 English fans are expected to travel to watch the match.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Russia has declared the region a visa-free regime from 17 May to 25 May for all fans with a valid match ticket.

But fans have been warned of the dangers of excessive drinking.

The city has special 'drink police' who travel around with mobile cells, looking for drunks, and if those cells are full, offenders risk being taken to 'sobering houses'.

Both teams are packed with European experience with 13 players out of the 22 lining up likely to have already played in a Champions League final.

Slovakian Lubos Michel is the match referee, who officiated in the Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool in 2005, when Luis Garcia was controversially award the goal that saw the Reds progress to the final.