With Chelsea and Arsenal through to the Europa League final, here's all you need to know about the 2019 edition... When is the Europa League final? The Europa League final, the 10th in its current format and 48th overall of Europe's second-tier competition, will take place on May 29, 2019. Kick-off is at 8pm (BST), 9pm (CEST). Where will it be held? The Olympic Stadium in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, will host the 2019 Europa League final. The venue stadium has also played host to the 2015 European Games and the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games in recent years. Early hours in Azerbaijan Due to the four-hour time difference between the UK and Azerbaijan, the final will actually start at midnight and conclude in the early hours of May 30 local time. Where can I follow the Europa League final? You can follow all of the action on the Sky Sports app and skysports.com through our dedicated Europa League final live blog, which will feature the best build-up, commentary and reaction from Baku. 3:35 Sky Sports reporter Gary Cotterill has visited Baku ahead of the Europa League final to speak to Arsenal and Chelsea fans who have made the long trip to Azerbaijan Who will be in the final? Arsenal will meet Chelsea in the Europa League final, the first-ever time one country has had four sides competing in the final Europe's top two competitions. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a superb hat-trick to send Arsenal through to the final after a clinical 4-2 win at Valencia (7-3 on aggregate). Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-3 on penalties to progress to the Europa League final after the two sides were locked together 2-2 on aggregate following extra time. Image: Atletico Madrid beat Marseille in last season's Europa League final in Lyon What's the deal with tickets? 37,500 seats in the 64,000-capacity Olympic Stadium have been reserved for supporters of the two finalists and a ballot for fans worldwide, but UEFA are yet to confirm the precise allocation each club will receive. The remaining 26,500 tickets will "be allocated to the local organising committee, national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme", the governing body have revealed. Regarding getting to Baku, travel journalist Simon Calder had some advice on Sky Sports News. "There are three flights a week with Azerbaijan Airlines but don't think you will get the one before the match and the one back afterwards, they sold out a long time ago. The way to go is via Turkey, almost always Istanbul. The tricky thing is you need to get a visa, which takes three days. You can do that online. "If you are going to flight comparison websites you will be offered all kind of options but it's really important to check whether it's "self-transfer" as if the first flight is late you will miss the second and could lose your money. Also, a lot of them are routed via Moscow and you might need a Russian visa for that, which is expensive and difficult." Will VAR be in use? Unlike this season's Champions League knockout stage, the Europa League has yet to see the introduction of Video Assistant Referee. But UEFA have confirmed that the technology will not be in use for this season's final in Baku.<doc-sep>The most direct route to drive from London to the Baku Olympic Stadium passes through a closed border crossing and an area of eastern Ukraine in which Russian-backed rebels are confronting Ukrainian troops along a mainly static frontline. To avoid those issues, one option is to travel via Istanbul, as with this route, a journey estimated to take 59 hours of driving time Their stadiums may only be separated by an eight-mile hop across London, but Chelsea and Arsenal fans now face a long journey to the eastern edge of Europe for the Europa League final. Success for both sides on Thursday ensured the Londoners will meet in an all-English final in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday, 29 May. That means supporters will have to travel 2,467 miles to watch the game in a city further east than Riyadh in Saudi Arabia or Baghdad in Iraq, and closer to Mumbai in India than it is to the English capital. You might think modern transport would mean journeys would be straightforward. You would be wrong. There are currently no direct scheduled flights between London and Baku in the week of the final. If you want to fly to the game on the day then a lengthy wait in somewhere like Istanbul or Kiev would be needed. The quickest journey by air on the day of the final takes six hours 55 minutes, with the majority lasting more than 10 hours. The only way to fly direct to Baku for the game would be to leave London on the Saturday beforehand and return a week later, three days after the trophy has been lifted. That's an eight-day trip for 90 minutes of football - and for a game which kicks of at 11pm local time (20:00 BST), so will not finish until about 1am! So what about the train? It takes more than four days to travel from London to Baku on public transport, passing through seven countries. Anyone who watched BBC Two's Race Across the World will know it might also involve some less-than-first-class rail conditions. The whole journey would likely include 11 changes and a two-day train journey from Kharkiv in Ukraine to Baku. Of course you could drive, but you would be looking at around 59 hours behind the wheel. It is made longer than it might otherwise have been because of the need to avoid a closed border crossing and an area of eastern Ukraine in which Russian-backed rebels are confronting Ukrainian troops along a mainly static frontline. Making the actual journey safely, therefore, involves an alternative route, with going via Istanbul one option. When you take in the time needed to eat and sleep, it would probably be best to set off on the Saturday to make the Wednesday night kick-off. For the victors, another game thousands of miles away against English opponents will only be a matter of months away - the Champions League winners will face the Europa League winners (either Arsenal or Chelsea) in the Uefa Super Cup in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday, 14 August. But if you think those trips are remarkable for two teams from the same city, they are nothing compared to the 2018 Copa Libertadores final. In December, the second leg of south America's showpiece event - originally due to be staged in Buenos Aires in Argentina - was moved more than 6,000 miles to Madrid after the Boca bus was attacked on its way to the stadium. Analysis: The environmental impact To help the discussion of why two London clubs need to go almost 2,500 miles to Azerbaijan to play against each other, when they are both less than 15km from Wembley, the Reality Check team has been looking into the carbon footprint of those journeys. Assuming 12,000 fans use economy class return flights, we've tried one carbon calculator that says it's 5,595 tonnes of CO2, one that says it's 8,280 tonnes and one that says it's 13,094 tonnes - 15,600 if you include radiative forcing, which is the extra emissions from flying at high altitude. If you look at the highest estimate (because you know some people will travel without tickets to the game, not everyone will fly economy class, and you also have to transport the teams and club staff), according to the US Environmental Protection Agency that's the amount of emissions you'd get from the energy needs of an average home for 1,868 years or running 3,300 cars for a year. To save that amount you'd have to switch 600,000 incandescent light bulbs to LEDs.<doc-sep>Arsenal have said it is “quite simply not right” that so many of their supporters will be unable to attend the Europa League final due to Uefa’s decision to host the match in Baku. Transport limitations in Azerbaijan resulted in both Chelsea and Arsenal being allocated only 6,000 tickets each for the match in Baku’s 68,700-seater Olympic Stadium. There are concerns that the clubs will unable to sell their full allocation as a result of the logistical and financial challenges of attending a match which takes place further east than Baghdad in Iraq and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. In a strongly-worded statement, Arsenal said the situation is “unacceptable and cannot be repeated” in the future as they urged Uefa to explain how venues are selected for showpiece finals. “We are bitterly disappointed by the fact that due to transport limitations Uefa can only make a maximum of 6,000 tickets available to Arsenal for a stadium with a capacity of well over 60,000,” said an Arsenal spokesperson. “Time will tell if it is even possible for 6,000 Arsenal fans to attend the match, given how extreme the travel challenges are.<doc-sep>
ARSENAL have slammed Uefa for the "unacceptable" decision to host the Europa League final in Baku. The Gunners and Chelsea have been given just 6,000 tickets each for the showdown despite the Baku Olympic Stadium's capacity of almost 70,000. 1 The Europa League final will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan Credit: EPA Uefa blamed "logistics" for the tiny allocation. Fans are fuming at the sky-high prices to travel 3,000 miles to Azerbaijan, with one airline charging £1,000 for return economy flights to Baku. In a scathing statement, Arsenal said: "Everyone at Arsenal is delighted to have reached the Uefa Europa League final and we are all very much looking forward to the match against Chelsea on Wednesday, May 29. "However, we are bitterly disappointed by the fact that due to transport limitations Uefa can only make a maximum of 6,000 tickets available to Arsenal for a stadium with a capacity of well over 60,000. BAKU BACKLASH "Time will tell if it is even possible for 6,000 Arsenal fans to attend the match, given how extreme the travel challenges are. "We have 45,000 season-ticket holders and for so many fans to miss out due to Uefa selecting a final venue with such limited transport provision is quite simply not right. "The reality is that whoever reached the final would not be able to meet demand from their supporters. "We have received many complaints from our fans about this and we fully share their concerns. "On behalf of our fans, we would like to understand the criteria by which venues are selected for finals, and also how supporter requirements are taken into account as part of this. "Moving forward we would urge Uefa to ensure that supporter logistics and requirements are a key part of any future decisions for final venues as what has happened this season is unacceptable, and cannot be repeated. "We would be happy to join any future discussions to avoid this situation happening again." Arsenal overcame Valencia in the semi-final to set up an all-English clash against Chelsea in Baku. It is the first time in history that FOUR Premier League clubs progressed to Europe's two major finals, with Liverpool and Tottenham set to lock horns in the Champions League. FULL ENGLISH But Arsenal and Chelsea fans' joy was quickly soured as issues over ticket demands and flight prices emerged. Uefa said in a statement: "Based on Uefa's recent experience with Uefa Europa League finals and the Uefa Super Cup in comparable venues the number of finalists’ supporters requesting tickets for a Uefa Europa League final can vary greatly from club to club. "Of course, it is impossible to predict in advance which clubs will reach the final while the venue has to be chosen around two years in advance. "Taking into consideration the above and most importantly the geographical location and logistical capacity of airports in and around the host city, it was deemed that around 15,000 spectators would be able to travel from abroad (this includes finalists’ fans and general public), with Baku as the main hub. "Offering more tickets to fans of the participating teams, without any guarantee that they would be able to arrange suitable travel to reach Baku, was therefore not a responsible option. "Based on these circumstances, for this year’s Uefa Europa League final in Baku, 6,000 tickets have been made available to each of the finalists. "Uefa remains in close contact with the finalists regarding the travel arrangements of their supporters and any other operational aspects with regards to the final."