Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, will pay the travel costs of fans attending the Champions League final. City have received an allocation of 6,000 tickets for the May 29 showpiece against Chelsea in Porto. Supporters will now be offered a place on the club's official trip to Porto when they purchase their tickets. Travel to and from Portugal will take place within a 24-hour period, as a Portuguese government minister had said would need to be the case last week. "Thousands of City supporters will benefit from the initiative which is designed to ease the financial pressure on fans who have faced – and are still facing – challenging circumstances due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic," a club statement read. "The Covid inflated costs, combined with necessary but expensive PCR testing, would have rendered the trip to the final unmanageable for many of those supporters lucky enough to qualify for a ticket." City have already been <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/manchester-city-crowned-2021-premier-league-champions-1.1221063">crowned Premier League champions</a> – for the fifth time under Sheikh Mansour's ownership – this season and secured a fourth League Cup win in a row after <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/aymeric-laporte-scores-late-winner-as-manchester-city-beat-spurs-in-league-cup-final-1.1210710">beating Tottenham Hotspur</a> at Wembley. "Pep [Guardiola] and the team have had such a remarkable season and their reaching the Champions League Final after a very challenging year represents a truly historic moment for the Club," Sheikh Mansour added in the statement.<br/> "It is therefore incredibly important that as many fans as possible have the opportunity to attend this special game. Especially those who have supported Manchester City through good and bad times for so many years."
