Finally. It's Wednesday 21 May and it all comes down to this.

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Now is not the time for soundbites, as a once-famous man said a few years ago, but I do feel the hand of history of my shoulder.

Later today, for the first time, two English teams will go head-to-head in the Champions League final.

Two English teams. Even if you don't support Manchester United or Chelsea, say it again. Surely it sounds just a little bit good, no?

I'm inclined to agree with Frank Lampard, who certainly thinks so.

"We're so fond of putting our teams down in England, but this is a huge bonus for English football, this game," said the Blues midfielder.

"We should all enjoy the moment. It's a big plus and we should treat it as such."

It's a pretty big plus for the game in Russia, too.

Just a week after Zenit St Petersburg got their hands on the Uefa Cup, Moscow is grabbing its chance to host club football's showpiece occasion with both hands.

And Muscovites seem to be relishing the fact that 50,000 English supporters and a continent's press are turning up on their doorstep.

Don't get me wrong, they aren't exactly prone to the sort of welcome you'd expect during carnival week in Rio.

Russians just aren't that sort of people.

But it is clear that they are making an enormous effort to put on an event worthy of the Champions League final.

The Uefa Champions Festival in Red Square, for example, is a great gesture from the hosts, who usually prefer to keep crowds to a minimum at the spirital heart of their city.

They were rewarded on Tuesday with fans – both Russian and English – flocking to see matches on the pitch set up in the middle of the square and have their photo taken with the European Cup.

(Obviously, as a Nottingham Forest fan, I'm already very well acquainted with the trophy.)

When you walk around the city centre, there are banners as far as the eye can see advertising the 'Moscow final' – the first time the Champions League final will have ever been played in Russia.

And the locals are keen to mingle with the foreigners, test their English and show that they are happy to be staging this event.

When I rocked up to the Luzhniki Stadium on Tuesday to get my accreditation, an enormous clean-up of the area around the sports complex was in operation.

Stalls were being knocked down, pavements were being power-washed and anything approaching rubbish was being binned as a never-ending stream of volunteers made sure everything would look spick and span on the day of the final.

I say complex, because it is a huge area of which the stadium is the centrepiece – a 180-hectare sprawling mass of buildings that contains swimming pools, skating rinks, football and futsal pitches, tennis courts, a medical centre, a sports museum and so on.

So if you're on your way to Europe's fourth-largest stadium and you want to have a good look around prior to kick-off, I'd suggest getting there pretty early.

I'm off to get involved in Moscow again, on a day the like of which this great city has perhaps never seen before.

Two English clubs. Well I know I'm excited.