So You Want to Watch Liverpool vs. Tottenham Live at Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano...

You’ve decided you’d like to head to Madrid to watch Liverpool take on Tottenham in the Champions League final on June 1st. Spur of the moment thing. A weekend of red wine and paella and maybe even a little football. Perhaps a day trip down to Toledo if you can fit it in. Sounds like a sound plan to us.

Though unless you’ve already been a regular at European away days this season, it’s going to cost you rather a lot. Maybe not quite up to just won the lotto or care to take out a second mortgage? levels of a lot, but definitely a lot.

First off, know that you probably won’t be getting your tickets through the club, as Liverpool have been given 16,613 (or roughly 24%) of Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano’s to sell to fans, with prices ranging from £60 to £513. With their allocation, the’ve guaranteed tickets to anyone who saw at least seven of the 12 Champions League games this season. Season ticket holders and anyone who saw six Champions League games can enter a draw for any remaining seats.

For those lucky enough to qualify for a ticket through the club and who live locally, Thomas Cook is offering a one-day return trip and stadium transfers for £559—a rather steep price given you don’t get to actually spend any time in Madrid doing the red wine and paella stuff, but a price tag that might not be so bad in light of Madrid hotel rates over the Champions League final weekend.

As for those looking to get tickets elsewhere, applications through UEFA already opened and closed back in March, meaning all but the costliest hospitality offerings are long gone—and even those hospitality tickets are mostly off the table, though there’s a slim chance you might still be able to pay €4,900 per person for a Category 1 seat and what UEFA say will be “world-class cuisine” in the stadium lounge.

Further, UEFA are warning fans against buying through ticket resellers, claiming even a legitimate ticket, if purchased through unofficial channels, may be invalid. Just how strictly their attempts to block the secondary market will be enforced is anyone’s guess, but it’s very much a buyer beware market—and an expensive market, with the cheap seats already well above €3000 while a swank VIP box is up for grabs at €135,000. That VIP box, though, can hold 18 people at a cost of just €7500 per person. Assuming UEFA let you in when you show up.

As for where you can stay when you get there, may we interest you in the five-star Eurostars Madrid at a mere €1300 per night? For the record, that’s compared to around €150 a night the weekend before and after the final. Midrange in-town offerings are going for around €500 a night, five to six times what they’re available for most other weekends.

If you’re on a budget, a smattering of two-star hotels in the suburbs and far from the action can be had for around €200 per. Meanwhile, Airbnb lands you a bedroom in a somebody’s apartment for €400 a night and something a little more private starts at over €1000.

All told, if you want to stay in Madrid proper, you’re into in the five to ten grand per person range if you can’t get tickets through the club. As for flights to Madrid, while they’re spiking in London and Liverpool as expected, if you’re flying from further afield it’s mostly business as usual—not that you’re likely all that worried about airfare if, having considered the other costs, a last-minute trip to the Champions League final still seems a good idea.

And if you are still looking at it and not at all put off by the cost of this particular weekend of red wine and paella and football, would you care to bring Team TLO along for the ride? I hear there’s a VIP box available.