When is the Champions League final and how to watch it in the UAE?

Manchester City dominated Real Madrid in the semi-finals. Getty Images
Manchester City dominated Real Madrid in the semi-finals. Getty Images

City and Inter both came through their respective semi-finals in style.

Here is everything you need to know about the biggest game in European club football.

When is the Champions League final?

The final will be played on Saturday, kick-off 11pm UAE time.

Where is the final?

The match will be played at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in ‎Istanbul, Turkey.

It will be the second time the stadium has hosted the final, following the famous 2005 match when Liverpool fought back from 3-0 down at half-time against AC Milan to win on penalties.

Who is playing in the final?

Manchester City and Inter Milan will battle to be crowned the champions of Europe.

City are pursuing their first European Cup, having been defeated in their one previous final against Chelsea in 2021, while Inter are aiming for their fourth title. Inter last won the Champions League in 2010.

City's route to the final

City sailed through the group stage with four wins and two draws, before crushing RB Leipzig 8-1 on aggregate in the last-16, which included five goals for Erling Haaland in the second leg.

Pep Guardiola's side then tamed two giants of European football, cruising past Bayern Munich (4-1) in the quarter-finals and outclassing Real Madrid (5-1) in the semi-finals.

Inter Milan's route to the final

Inter were drawn in the group of death alongside Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and finished runners-up to the Germans with three wins, a draw and two losses.

The Italians edged past Porto 1-0 on aggregate in the last-16 and defeated Benfica (5-3) in the quarter-finals. Inter then eliminated rivals AC Milan (3-0) in the semi-finals.

How to watch the final

The Champions League final will be broadcast live on beIN Sports in the UAE.

How to get beIN channels in the UAE

While the channels are no longer available on etisalat by e&'s eLife service, they are still on du's Home TV service until the end of this month.

Customers with a subscription can watch the channels through the beIN Satellite Network, online portal beIN Connect or beIN's own streaming app, TOD, which can be downloaded on the App Store or Google Play store.

The Ultimate Package, which is available in 4K, offers 81 channels of the best sports and entertainment. It costs Dh202 a month.

The Premium Package has 74 channels and costs Dh110 while the Kick Off Package, which features 65 channels, costs Dh73 a month and the Together Package, with 58 channels, costs Dh48 a month.

Device packages include the beIN TV VIP Package, which requires a one-off fee of Dh720 ($192), the beIN TV package which costs Dh459 ($125) or the beIN PVR Plus, which costs Dh213 ($58).

The 24-month plan has a one-off fee of Dh4,848 ($1,320) while the 12-month plan has a one-off fee of Dh2,424 ($660).

The six-month plan requires two payments of Dh1,212 ($330) while the three-month plan requires Dh606 ($165) every three months. The monthly plan costs Dh202 ($55) a month.

How can I use the TOD app?

Two packages are available for the TOD app.

These include the TOD Total Package, which costs Dh66 a month and the TOD Theatre package, which costs Dh36 a month.

The streaming app can be used on desktops, as well iOS and Android devices.

City and Inter train for final

Manchester City stars arrive in Istanbul

Final fever in Istanbul - in pictures

Man City's Dias and Foden eye historic treble - video

The biog

Name: Ayisha Abdulrahman Gareb

Age: 57

From: Kalba

Occupation: Mukrema, though she washes bodies without charge

Favourite things to do: Visiting patients at the hospital and give them the support they need.
Role model: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

 

RESULTS

Main card

Bantamweight 56.4kg: Mehdi Eljamari (MAR) beat Abrorbek Madiminbekov (UZB), Split points decision

Super heavyweight 94 kg: Adnan Mohammad (IRN) beat Mohammed Ajaraam (MAR), Split points decision

Lightweight 60kg:  Zakaria Eljamari (UAE) beat Faridoon Alik Zai (AFG), RSC round 3

Light heavyweight 81.4kg: Taha Marrouni (MAR) beat Mahmood Amin (EGY), Unanimous points decision

Light welterweight 64.5kg: Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE), Unanimous points decision

Light heavyweight 81.4kg:  Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Haroun Baka (ALG), KO second round

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Updated: June 11, 2023, 12:00 AM`