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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Gareth Bicknell

Arsenal and Chelsea fans face travel chaos to get to Europa League final in Baku

Arsenal and Chelsea fans face travel chaos to see their sides in the all-English Europa League final in Baku.

Arsenal booked their place in the final with a 4-2 win at Valencia to go through 7-3 on aggregate, while Chelsea needed penalties to go through after a second 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in their semi-final.

The Europa League final takes place in the Azerbaijan capital on Wednesday, May 29.

But there are currently no direct scheduled flights between London and Baku that week.

Fans wanting to fly out on the day of the game would most likely face a lengthy wait in Istanbul, Turkey or Kiev, Ukraine.

Arsenal players celebrate after beating Valencia (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

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But they could a long time in the air, with most flights on the day lasting more than 10 hours, while the quickest is six hours 55 minutes.

Anyone wanting to fly direct would be looking at spending a week in Baku. The only way to fly direct would be to leave London on the Saturday before, returning a week later - three days after the trophy has been lifted.

Fans could plump for an adventure on the trains - it takes more than four days to travel from London to Baku by rail, including 11 changes and a train which takes two days to journey from Kharkiv in Ukraine to Baku.

Eden Hazard scores the winning penalty for Chelsea (Getty Images)

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Another option would be to get the sat nav out and drive it - the journey would take 58 hours without breaks.

English clubs have conquered Europe this week, as Arsenal and Chelsea made it a full house in the Champions League and Europa League finals.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s hat-trick and a goal from Alexandre Lacazette in Valencia sent Arsenal through in the Europa League on Thursday.

Kepa Arrizabalaga was a shootout hero for Chelsea (Getty Images)

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And an hour later, keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was the hero with two penalty saves in a shootout at Stamford Bridge.

That left Eden Hazard to slot home the winning penalty to book their place against the Gunners in Baku on May 25 and officially announce that English football rules again in Europe.

Progression for Arsenal and Chelsea followed this week's dramatic Champions League semi-finals, which saw Liverpool and Tottenham complete unlike comebacks against Barcelona and Ajax respectively to set up an all-English final in Madrid on June 1.

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