Final from eight thousand kilometres away

The fight for European glory will see two of Europe’s elite lock horns in the UEFA Champions League final at the Parc Des Princes in Paris on Saturday.

Spanish giants Real Madrid will be gunning for their 14th title, while Liverpool will be looking to add to their six.

Besides the lucky odd 47,929 fans, who will be allocated to the Parc Des Princes, supporters around the world will be glued to their TVs.

It is no different in Bangladesh, where official supporters’ clubs go out of their way to build a community of football enthusiasts, who follow the ins and outs of their favourite teams.

The grand finale will take centre stage amongst supporters from Bangladesh, who will be rooting for their teams from 8,000 kilometres away.

The official supporters’ club of Real Madrid, Peña Madridista Bangladesh, boasts a following of 3,200 members across the country. Sifat Jashim, secretary of the supporters’ club, shared his thoughts ahead of the final.

He assured that the mood amongst the Real fans is relaxed and that their previous record gives them confidence.

“We are very relaxed. We don’t lose finals, and the records speak for themselves,” he said. “We know Liverpool on paper might be a better side, but we have shown enough steel in the previous matches, where we were not necessarily the better side. We beat them last season in the UCL and have experience on our side. I hope that our winning mentality comes through.”

President of Liverpool Official Supporters’ Club, Tasmim Morshed, said the Reds will go into the final to win.

“We are very confident, and you can say that we feel a longing for revenge,” he told TBP. “We have no point to prove to anyone, we have played tremendous football throughout this season. We will play for ourselves.”

OLSC will host their official screening at Amari Hotel Dhaka in Banani, while Peña Madridista Bangladesh’s official screening is set to be held at Hotel Platinum Grand in Banani.