Champions League Final - Rome - May 27th
Manchester United, having beaten FC Porto in the Champions League quarter final, now face their Premier League rivals Arsenal in the last 4. That means that for the fifth year on the trot there will be an English team vying to be European Champions.
You can almost hear UEFA president Michel Platini choking on his Breakfast.
As a result of this British presence 5live Breakfast will be there as well. I hope that's ok Mr Platini.
It could even be an all-English final just like last year as Chelsea play Barcelona in the other semi. The all-important second leg being played at Stamford Bridge as well so you never know.
Behind the scenes at 5live the planning wheels have been moving for some time as hotels need to be reserved, but flights now need to be booked and guests need to be touted up. There is a lot to organise in the next few weeks although the fact we don't have to get a working Visa as we did last year helps a lot. The 2008 final was in Moscow and to say that organising it was a bit of a nightmare would be a bit of an understatement.
To qualify what I mean may I remind you that England's 2008 European Championship qualifier against Russia in Moscow was broadcast on 5live via telephone because of the difficulties in getting ISDN lines installed (ISDN lines are needed to broadcast in almost studio-like quality. It is what football commentators use and it is effectively a phone line capable of carrying much more information).
So, we need to find a location to broadcast from that is central and busy enough to warrant being there and we need to find somewhere fans will be congregating so we can tell their stories. That's the great thing about these huge sporting events, you hear so many different tales, especially regarding the sacrifices people have to make to get there - cancelled weddings, hitch-hiking etc.
But one thing we don't forget is that we are there because most fans can't be.


~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~05~RS~)
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