The first finale of UEFA’s three club competitions takes place today in Dublin Arena in Ireland, where debutants Atlanta will play against Bayer Leverkusen.
Xabi Alonso’s men, whose 51 games unbeaten run this season, is a record for a top-flight European team that saw them lift the Bundesliga.
A win today will increase their tally to 52 games which would see them clinch European honours for only the second time after lifting the 1988 UEFA Cup, and a 53rd game without defeat would truly launch Alonso into stratospheric fame as a manager ahead of their final game of the season this weekend when they take on Kaiserslautern for the DFB-Pokal.
Atalanta could become the first Italian side to lift the UEL trophy, while a 52nd unbeaten game of the season for Leverkusen (W42, D9) would leave the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions just one game shy of an unprecedented undefeated treble-winning campaign.
Again, their knockout phase this season saw them beat some of the best that Portugal, England and France had to offer, after knocking out Sporting CP, Liverpool and Marseille to book their place in Dublin.
The match is scheduled for 7pm bearing in mind that the last three UEL finals have all gone to a penalty shootout.