The Champions League final is the biggest game in European club football, and only the finest venues from across Europe are considered fit to host it.

But it was a bit of a palaver for UEFA to sort out exactly who was going to get the right to host the 2027 final, which has been set for Saturday, June 5.

The initial bidding process in 2023 came down to either Budapest's Puskas Arena or Milan's San Siro - only to have to go through the whole process again.

That was because Hungary was picked for the 2026 final - where PSG ultimately beat Arsenal on penalties to retain the trophy - while the San Siro's future was in too much doubt for UEFA to hand Milan the final. That turned out to be a wise move.

After the bidding was re-opened in 2024, both Azerbaijan putting forward Baku's Olympic Stadium while Spain threw Atletico Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano into the hat, with the latter winning out in the end.

That will make 2027 the second time that the Metropolitano Stadium has hosted a men's Champions League final.

The first was in 2019, just two years after the stadium opened, as Madrid bore witness to Liverpool's victory over Tottenham.

Atletico's ground is only the third-biggest stadium in Spain, but has been noted for its superb transport links, facilities and wider infrastructure.

Barcelona's Camp Nou was instead put forward for the 2027 Women's Champions League final (which will actually be held in Warsaw), with the renovated stadium instead pushing to host the men's final in 2029.

No details are available as to why the Metropolitano was preferred to Real Madrid's Bernabeu home, but greater modernity and a more recent history of successfully hosting the final may be factors.

36 teams will start out in the competition in September, with the league phase giving way to the knockout stage after the turn of the new year.

Atletico will be hoping to go one better than last year and earn themselves a final on home soil after going out to Arsenal in the semi-finals last season.

The club have previously made it to the final three times, in 1974, 2014 and 2016, but ended up on the losing side in all three encounters.

England will have five representatives in the competition again this season, with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool all vying for the trophy.