The Europa League final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers will have as much focus off the pitch as it will on it with more than 5,000 police officers and security personnel on high alert in Seville for the match on Wednesday.
Local authorities expect around 100,000 Scottish and German fans to turn up in the city, with the majority arriving without tickets for the game. The two finalists have been allocated only 10,000 tickets each for the final at the 42,000-capacity Pizjuan Stadium, which has raised anxiety levels.
Streets are being closed, barriers are being erected around monuments and security has been heightened in subway stations and at the city’s main squares.
Eintracht Frankfurt are aiming to end their 42-year barren run in Europe, having won the Europa League when it was then the Uefa Cup in 1980.
Victory will also guarantee the winners an automatic spot in the group stage of next season’s Champions League.
“For Eintracht, for the fans, for the club, for the players, [winning again after 42 years] would be the most important thing ever,” Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner said. “It has extraordinary significance, great significance, and that’s why we’re going to try our best so that we come home with the trophy and spend one or two nights celebrating with our fans.”
Rangers, beaten in the 2008 Europa League final by Zenit St Petersburg, are hoping to win their first European silverware in 50 years following their success in the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup in 1972.
Frankfurt players were busy during training on Tuesday, hoping to replicate their fine run this campaign one more time. They made it to the final unbeaten after eliminating some strong opponents – Real Betis in the round of 16, Barcelona in the quarter-finals and West Ham in the semi-finals.
