Champions League Final The Calm Before Storm As Uefa And Fifa Battle Rolls On | Nick Ames

Club World Cup looms after powerbrokers from both governing bodies mingle in Munich for Europe’s biggest club game

In regal Odeonsplatz, the finishing touches are being applied to a fan zone that will accommodate Inter’s travelling fans under an azure sky. It will surely be full to capacity given about 40,000 Nerazzurri are expected to arrive in time for Saturday’s Champions League final, even if under half that number will officially make it into Allianz Arena for the match itself. This is not only an appointment with history for their opponents, Paris Saint-Germain; Inter have blended silk with street-fighting qualities to stand on the verge of their first European title since 2010.

Gianni Infantino is unlikely to be among the melee but the Fifa president’s sympathies are well documented. He will be quietly rooting for Inter from the VIP seats and perhaps it will be an opportune moment for some bridge building. There is a constituency of Inter fans in Uefa’s higher echelons, after all, and football’s biggest governing bodies could certainly do with discovering a few acres of common ground.