‘I’ve only been here three hours, but it’s a party’ – fans flock to Dublin for Europa League final showdown

The sun shone down on Dublin Castle and local musicians gave a rendition of The Black Velvet Band as fans of Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta came together at the official fan festival ahead of tonight’s Europa League final.

More than 20,000 fans will visit Dublin and the Aviva Stadium (renamed the Dublin Arena for this match) this week.

There were plenty of green jerseys among the crowd too as locals joined in the fun with plenty of activities on offer.

Youngsters took part in five-a-side games, fans queued in their hundreds for a picture alongside the Europa League trophy and a huge crowd gathered to watch Chelsea legend Ashley Cole do a few keepie-uppies.

Bergamo native and Atalanta fan Matteo Gualini said he’s not sure where he and his friends will be staying over the next few nights, but he’s just happy to be in town for the match.

“We started our trip on Monday going to Verona by train. We slept in Verona, took the train to Venice, then from Venice we took the plane here,” he said.

“We’re staying tonight, I don’t know where we’re going to sleep but it’s not a problem.” .

Mr Gualini said he’s feeling confident ahead of his club’s first ever European final.

“I’m feeling good. I’m here for the party, I don’t know how the match will be but it will be a party. We’re enjoying Dublin, we’re only here three hours so I have to enjoy a lot more,” he said.

“It’s a very big occasion. We don’t know if we’ll be here another time so we’re here to enjoy it. It goes how it goes.”

He shared a moment of good sport with Leverkusen supporter Tobias Franzen who has made his way to Dublin from Solingen, a city around 25km outside of Leverkusen.

Now at the tail-end of a historic season for the club and with a 51-game unbeaten run still intact, Mr Franzen said he’s very confident for the final.

“I’ve forgotten how losing feels. It will probably be very tough tomorrow – it’s a final so anything can happen – but I’m pretty confident we can win,” he said.

“We’re planning to name the street near our stadium after our coach Xabi Alonso.”

With a first Bundesliga already secured and a German Cup final to come on Saturday, there’s a chance at an unprecedented unbeaten treble for Leverkusen. Mr Franzen said losing that perfect record wouldn’t undo what has already been a season filled with success.

“Maybe at first it would feel bittersweet but we’ve won the Bundesliga for the first time in our history, and the way we did it was just magical. At first it would hurt to lose the final of course but in the future we will only look back at winning our first German title,” he said.

“Dublin is great, it’s my second time here. I was here in 2019 for a while and I’m enjoying it. Maybe a little bit of sightseeing tomorrow morning then on to the stadium.

“I think it will be 3-2, a couple of goals in extra time again.”

‘A huge crowd were gathered at Dublin Castle to watch Chelsea legend Ashley Cole do a few keepie-uppies’