Madrid bars will be rocking on Saturday as Real Madrid takes on Atletico Madrid in the first UEFA Champions League final between teams from the same city on Saturday. For Real, it would be a record10th European title; for Atletico, it would be a first. As the AFP points out, authorities in both Lisbon, where the final is being held, and Spain are going to great lengths to make sure fansof the two sides do not mix.
Some 1,250 police will be on duty in Madrid to prevent fan clashes. While local authorities had initially planned to screen the match in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol,they have been forced to choose, due to security warnings, between watching the match on separate giant screens at Real’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the richer north or Atletico’sVicente Calderon stadium in the poorer south. Police in Spain’s Extremadura region, which is on the road to Portugal, have also said they will try to keep busloads of rival fans apart at servicestops on the way to Lisbon.