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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Colin Millar & Alan Smith

Firefighters tackle huge blaze near Champions League final venue with smoke over stadium

Firefighters have been sent to tackle a blazing fire at a building around a mile away from the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul ahead of the Champions League final.

Smoke from the flames could be seen drifting over the stands in the stadium just over two hours ahead of kick-off at the showpiece event of the season for European football on Saturday night.

Manchester City are in just their second ever Champions League final and are hopeful of tasting glory in the competition for the first time in their history. They are taking on three-time winners Inter Milan, who are aiming to lift the trophy for the first time since 2010.

Huge clouds of black smoke drifted over the stands as fans began entering the stadium (AP)

Dozens of fire engines could be seen and heard rushing towards the blaze. At about 8pm local time (6pm BST), the smoke had drifted west towards the stadium with thick clouds stretching across the skyline. However, withing 40 minutes the amount of smoke had decreased significantly.

It is unclear how the blaze began or what is contained within but it broke out as tens of thousands of fans were making their way to the stadium on the western outskirts of the Turkish city.

The highly-anticipated final is scheduled to kick-off at 8pm UK time - 10pm local time in Istanbul. The stadium last hosted the Champions League final back in 2005, when Liverpool memorably came from three goals down at half-time to draw 3-3 against Milan, before winning a dramatic penalty shootout.

The matchday experience for fans of both clubs in the city has not been ideal. UEFA, European football's governing body, urged fans to start congregating in official fan areas nine hours before kick-off on Saturday.

The venue is located more than an hour's journey away from the centre of Istanbul, with shuttle buses scheduled alongside the metro to help fans travel to the stadium. However, there were multiple reports from those travelling on Saturday that there were queues lasting hours to access the buses and some fans were filmed running along a gridlocked motorway towards the ground.

Those travelling to the stadium from the centre have outlined how the entire journey took over three-and-a-half hours. Similar is expected on the way back into the city afterwards.

City's team buses were also caught up in delays - with the team finally arriving 80 minutes before kick off, 40 minutes after Inter. The Serie A side's players spent a short time on the pitch, soaking up the pre-match atmosphere.

Fans have also had to pass through three security checks to enter the stadium with a significant number of police on duty. Some City fans on social media described the long wait to get into the arena as "shambolic".

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