English slogan of Arsenal European League

Chelsea and Arsenal will meet in the Europa League final, which may be the strangest London derby we have ever seen. Two London clubs, only eight miles apart, will travel nearly 3,000 miles to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. For the fans of the two teams, this is bound to be an expensive and time-consuming journey. Next, the Great Sage will tell you the story of the Europa League final.

Azerbaijan borders Iran, Armenia and Russia, and is even closer to the east than Syria, Iraq and Israel. Apart from the farthest place in Russia, UEFA should not choose such a position far away from Britain and other western European countries. The fans had to travel through four time zones to the final venue, and they had to tighten their belts to watch the final.

Air ticket prices have skyrocketed, and the cheapest flight costs 500 pounds. However, such a cheap ticket has a small "defect": such a flight takes 24 hours and includes two connecting flights, the first in Katowice, Poland, and then in Kiev, Ukraine. The direct flight takes less than six hours, but the ticket price in Luoyang is very expensive now, because there is only one such route, and it will take off one week before the final. So it seems impossible to travel by plane. What about land travel?

Public transportation is a possibility, but such an epic trip will take four and a half days and pass through seven countries. The journey started relatively easily, taking Eurostar to Brussels and then arriving in Frankfurt four hours later. From there, you can choose some European buses, 12 hours to reach the Polish city of Przemehill. Followed by the overnight Kiev passenger train, 16 hours, 647 kilometers, arrived in the Ukrainian capital. Kiev to Kharkov is the next journey, which takes less than five hours by train. It looks like a short trip.

One way to get from Kharkov to Baku is to take the Mammoth bus, which will take 2 days and 4 hours and the journey will be nearly 2,000 kilometers. If you can endure such a trip, then you will reach your final destination and watch the final game on time. Every season in the Premier League, you will see two such matches.

Of course, driving can also save yourself time. After crossing the English Channel by ferry, it takes only 57 hours to cross the European continent. The Olympic Stadium in Baku can accommodate nearly 70,000 fans, but considering the distance, UEFA only distributed 6,000 tickets to each of the two clubs.