Europa League Final: The Difficulties Facing Fans in Getting to Baku to See Arsenal vs Chelsea

Arsenal and Chelsea will both fly the flag for the Premier League when they clash in Baku, Azerbaijan for the Europa League final on Wednesday 29 May.

To see the two sides face off normally, most fans need to just travel just eight miles across London, but not this time. 

To get to Baku, fans must embark on a journey of almost 2,500 miles, and it is certainly not straightforward.

Flying to Baku 

There are almost no direct links between the United Kingdom and Baku, with Tim Rolls of the ​Chelsea Supporters Trust describing the Azerbaijan city as "one of the most inaccessible cities in Europe from the UK" in an interview with ​BBC Sport.

Rolls isn't wrong. There are not many flights between London and Baku, and those that are scheduled are already fully booked, meaning fans may need to arrange connections with various airports around Europe.

Most flights will stop off in either Turkey, Ukraine or Georgia, where fans can find more regular flights to Baku.

Journeys can last well over ten hours, and that time can be extended massively if you opt to save yourself some money and book an overnight bus journey from some nearby European cities.

However, that could be the most realistic option for many fans. To fly direct from London to Baku, supporters would have to leave on the Saturday before the game and return a week later, unless any new direct flights are added for the special occasion.

Accommodation

When it comes to accommodation, prices in Baku can vary greatly. A quick search on ​Trivago will bring up rooms from just £5 per night, and there are plenty available for under £20. Although, if you're looking for some more luxury, you could end up paying well over £1,000.

Ticketing

Finally, there is the tricky matter of getting tickets to the game. The Olympic Stadium has a capacity of almost 70,000, so you would think getting tickets would be easy, right? Wrong. So very wrong.

Both ​Arsenal and Chelsea have been allocated just 6,000 tickets each for the game, with UEFA stating (via ​Goal) that Baku can only handle around 15,000 travelling fans. Seems like an issue for one of the biggest European games of the year.

Tickets direct from the clubs can set you back anything from £26 to £121, whilst prices on re-sale websites go up to the thousands.