40 years old on February 5, 938 goals in his entire career, of which 138 for the Portuguese national team in 221 appearances.

Spain declared themselves defeated, although they led twice (1-0 and 2-1). After 90 minutes it was 2-2. Zubimenti opened the scoring in the 21st minute, but Nuno Mendes quickly equalized, after just 5 minutes. Just before half-time, Oyarzabal was served perfectly by Pedri and placed the ball easily past Diogo Costa. Spain went into the break with a one-goal advantage.

After the break, Roberto Martinez changed the right wing, unhappy with Joao Neves and Francisco Conceicao. Ruben Neves and Nelson Semedo came on and Portugal were back in the game. Ronaldo equalizes in the 61st minute, and the match does not offer any more great opportunities until the end. In the 88th minute Cristiano lies down on the ground, halfway through the field, and asks for a substitution. He did his job, taking the team to extra time.

After 120 minutes, the score remains tied and it comes to penalties. At 4-3 for Portugal, Morata shoots, Costa saves. Ruben Neves is the last for the Portuguese and beats flawlessly to the right of Unai Simon, who was fooled by the trick.

The fiesta starts at the Allianz Arena, where 65,800 souls watched a match in earnest!

I can only be happy that I was part of this piece of history, which I approached with an ideal kit for sports photography, thanks to @canonromania :

Canon R1
Canon RF 100-300, F/2.8

“If serious injuries don’t occur, I will continue doing what I love, playing football and enjoying every moment on the pitch!” Cristiano declared in an interview in the mixed zone, immediately after the match.

His statistics speak for himself: 221 appearances for the Portuguese national team, in which he scored 138 times, being recorded in history as the absolute leader in the line of “international” goals! Until Ronaldo and Messi, only the famous Iranian striker Ali Daei had surpassed the 100-goal mark for a national team.

And there’s something else! Portugal had nothing before him (3 Euro qualifiers, 3 World Cups and no trophy)!

Portugal with Ronaldo qualified for 5 World Championships, 6 EUROs and won 3 trophies.

I can only be happy that I was part of this piece of history, which I approached with an ideal kit for sports photography, thanks to @canonromania :

Canon R1
Canon RF 100-300, F/2.8

75,000 people fit in the Allianz Arena and, probably, another 60,000 watched the Final in the Fan Zones set up by the organizers.

For example, the Fan Festival area at Olympiapark, where fans could take photos with the Champions League trophy, closed three hours before the starting whistle. There was simply no more room, and the German police sealed all the entrances, leaving thousands of people outside. However, they redirected to other areas and squares with giant screens.

Not only did ticket prices skyrocket, but so did accommodation prices. The huge parking lot in Olympiapark was filled with camper vans with Italian license plates.

In the Festival area, football fans enjoyed various activities, took photos with the trophy, a trophy that is 73.5 cm high and weighs 7.5 kg. The design belongs to Jürg Stadelmann, and its creation took 340 hours. There was also a giant trophy at the festival.

The highlight of the day before the Final was a 5 vs 5 Champions League legends tournament, which was won by FC Figo (Luis Figo’s team), who defeated Kaka’s Kings (Kaka’s team) in the final.

I was lucky enough that Natalia, one of my fellow journalists from Greece who came to Munich for the Grand Finale, offered me a ticket to the event that took place in the SAP Arena.

Sponsors organized small events that had as prizes either tickets to matches in the next Champions League season, or various souvenirs. All among stands with wursts, pizza, chips and beer. A 0.5 L beer cost €6.50, while 1 L pints were sold for €13.

At the stadium, where Andrei Plesnilă documented the event for DB-Sport.ro, it was a real spectacle. Celebrities, heads of state, former Champions League winning footballers and more, influencers, football officials from all continents, media representatives (525 journalists were accredited for the final), plus the supporters of the two teams started the evening with a Linkin Park mini-concert, followed by “Seven Nation Army” performed on the violin by the famous German musician David Garrett and the final moment of the opening ceremony.

Then, the Champions League anthem announced the teams’ entrance onto the pitch. And what an honor for Romania, the referees’ brigade led by Istvan Kovacs, assisted by Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi, stepped out first. It was also the moment when the French pitch revealed the scenography “Nous sommes invincibles – Paris” (We are invincible – Paris)!

What followed was a real football lesson taught by PSG. Any coach in the world should have been sitting in front of the TV with something to take notes on. It ended 5-0, and the refereeing was impeccable. Kovacs is to be appreciated for blowing the final whistle in the 90th minute, without prolonging the agony of the losers.

It was Luis Enrique’s moment, and the audience rewarded him. It was all for Xana, the Spanish coach’s 9-year-old daughter who passed away from cancer in August 2019. Another memorable image descended over the French stand, recalling a famous photo from after the 2015 Champions League final, won by Barcelona with Luis Enrique on the bench: Xana in a Barcelona shirt waving the Blaugrana flag alongside the coach.

The French fans reproduced the image, but with Xana in a PSG shirt and flag. “Even though she is no longer with us physically, I always feel her presence, even when we lose,” the Spanish coach said at the end, thanking the fans. “I was delighted with the banner displayed. But I don’t need to win a trophy to think about her. She is in my heart forever!”

PSG is on its first Champions League trophy, and Luis Enrique is on his second such performance.

While some airlines operating direct flights to Bilbao preferred to keep prices high in most hubs, British fans looked for economical options. From the UK, a week before, there was hardly anything under £1000 left. Madrid was stormed from all directions, but especially from Palma de Mallorca. All trains and buses Madrid-Bilbao were fully booked for May 20 and 21.

Stephen (left in the first picture) flew from Edinburgh, where he works, to Palma de Mallorca. From there we went together to Madrid. He bought a ticket on the morning of the match on a Flexibus and slept at the airport, then continued to rest on the journey of at least five and a half hours. He was in Bilbao for the semi-final with Athletic, he would have liked that match to have been the final. United fans felt good in Bilbao.

Rental cars at reasonable prices were also not available anymore. The cheapest accommodation in Bilbao for the night of the final, on Booking, was €230 at a hostel, in an eight-bed room. Otherwise? Over €450, but far from the center. I set up my base in Burgos, 160 km away from Bilbao, where I arrived by car from Madrid!

My journey to Bilbao started from Bucharest via Bergamo, Palma de Mallorca and Madrid

I left Bucharest on the morning of May 20th. A flight that arrived in Bergamo at 7 am. With a 7-hour layover until the next destination, I went out to Città Alta for breakfast, a coffee and a walk. Bergamo is one of my favorite cities, with which I have many beautiful memories.

There is a direct bus from Caravaggio airport to the old town, the trip costs 3 euro and takes 30 minutes if there is no traffic.

Then we boarded the flight to Palma de Mallorca, around 3pm, an airport where we landed 1 hour and 30 minutes later. With the flight from Madrid at 9pm, I went out to visit a friend and meet up with some British friends from Manchester who had chosen the same route to Bilbao.

I returned to the airport around 7:30 PM, and the flight to Madrid took off at 9:30 PM, with a slight delay. On the plane, half of the passengers will be at San Mames in Bilbao the next day for the big Final.

Arriving in Madrid around 10:45 PM, I immediately went to the office of the company I had booked the car from. After the formalities (contract, insurance, etc.), around midnight I set off for Burgos. The road was smooth, I stepped on the accelerator pedal well and at 2 AM I arrived at the hotel. Shower and sleep with a wake-up call at 7:30 AM for breakfast.

In Bilbao, all the large 24-hour parking lots were booked, so I decided to leave early to find the best option. And I found it: a parking lot open until 9:30 PM and after a Basque citizen was willing to host my car until after the match, with the promise that I wouldn’t leave before 2 AM.

Bilbao is a relatively small city, so two nights is plenty of time to explore. The city thrives on tourism. It’s the de facto capital of Basque Country, an industrial port city in northern Spain.

It is relatively easy to get there from all the major nearby cities that have easily accessible airports: 2 hours 50 minutes from Zaragoza, 4 hours 20 minutes from Madrid or the longer 6-hour options from Barcelona and Valencia. There is also an option from France, via Bordeaux, 3 and a half hours (plane to get there and Flexibus, motorways are expensive in France).

I arrived from Madrid via Burgos and Vitoria-Gasteiz, on a route proposed by Google Maps of 4 hours and 27 minutes, with a toll on a small section of 15 km for which I paid 2.7 euro. In Spain, most motorways became free of charge following an ended agreement with the builders, dating back to 1974, which assumed the recovery of the investment in 50 years.

The undisputed symbol of Bilbao is Guggenheim Museum. Opened in 1997 and designed by Frank O. Gehry, the museum houses prominent modern and contemporary works.

Before arriving at the Fan Festival in the city center, near the Arriaga Theater, opened by UEFA especially for the Europa League Final, I took a short tour of the city that passed by the museum, by the Santiago Cathedral, built 600 years ago and which is the most impressive Gothic monument in the Basque Country, and by the Bizkaia Bridge, but not before going to the accreditation center located at San Mames Stadium.

At 12:30 a legends match was played, 5 vs 5, where Răzvan Raț was part of the UEFA legends team that played against the Basque legends, in front of the Arriaga Theater. Raț had teammates Tomasz Kuszczak, Jesús Navas, Steffen Freund, Nani, Dimitar Berbatov and Faouzi Ghoulam. On the other side, the Basque legends presented themselves with Gaizka Toquero, Markel Susaeta, Beñat Etxebarria, Xabi Prieto, Carlos Martínez, Mikel Balenziaga and Gorka Iraizoz.

After finishing this demonstration match, I had a look around the city, I stopped at a restaurant recommended by some friends where I had lunch. The menu of the day, 14.99 euro, two generous dishes (I chose chicken curry with rice and beef with baked potatoes) plus a drink and a coffee. I wanted to leave a tip and was refused, the young lady who was serving returned it running after me outside the restaurant explaining in Spanish that it was not necessary. Strange habit, I thought, I took the 5 euro with gratitude and went on my way.

At five o’clock I moved my car from the paid parking lot to the spot agreed upon with the Basque citizen and moved to the Cathedral of Football, San Mames. After passing through the security filters, I went to pick up my bib and claim my spot in front of the Spurs fans’ lawn.

About the final and the photo gallery, scroll down two times. All the madness, with the ceremony and the delivery of the images ended around 2 AM. With the car luckily parked 7 minutes walk from the stadium, I moved quickly, and at 4:30 I was back at the hotel in Burgos. The plan was to linger in the center of Madrid for a few hours. So, after 5 hours of sleep, a shower and breakfast, I set off for the capital of Spain.

The traffic in Madrid seemed to me the most organized of the big cities I drove through, with underground tunnels under the city that immediately take you in any direction you need. For example, I arrived at the airport without any emotions, in 22 minutes. And I even left exactly 25 minutes before the car was due to be returned.

This time I returned to Bucharest with a direct flight of 3 hours and 5 minutes.

Cost of the trip

Because I have many curious friends and acquaintances and considering that Bilbao and the way there was very expensive from any corner of Europe, we start like this:

• Flight Bucharest – Bergamo – 33 euro
• Public transport Carravagio airport – Bergamo Alta Citta – 6 euro
• Breakfast in Alta Citta (cappuccino, water and pizza) – 9.5 euro
• Flight Bergamo – Palma de Mallorca – 15 euro
• Lunch Palma de Mallorca, burger and ice cream – 16 euro
• Flight Palma de Mallorca – Madrid – 15 euro
• Car rental for 2 days (Seat Leon Cupra 2025) – 88 euro
• Car full insurance for 2 days (for travel I have it included in Revolut Ultra plan) – 54 euro
• A full tank of gas – 67 euro
• 3-star hotel Burgos two nights with breakfast – 104 euro
• Highway – 2.7 euro
• Bilbao parking 7 hours – 11.8 euro
• Lunch Bilbao – 15 euro
• A 1 liter beer at Fan Festival – 10 euro
• Other snacks – 12 euro
• Lunch Madrid – 15 euro
• Parking Madrid (4 hours) – 7 euro
• Two beers at the airport – 10 euro
• Flight Madrid – Bucharest – 110 euro

TOTAL = 601 EURO

About the final and the photo gallery

It has been 17 years since Spurs last won a trophy, the League Cup in 2008, and 41 years since their last European trophy, the UEFA Cup in 1984.

“I usually win a trophy in my second season,” says Ange Postecoglu, who hopes to build on this Europa League success, although his future is still uncertain and there have been no talks with the club about what happens next.

Brennan Johnson’s first-half strike secured Tottenham victory and a place in next year’s Champions League, saving a disastrous season.

The match was lacklustre, with Tottenham pushing hard and United only making a late comeback in the hope of sending the game into extra time. Vicario saved his team on two occasions.

Spurs’ most impatient fans filled the dedicated sections long before United’s fans even showed up. They were also the most vocal, with no pause in their chants and cheers. “We’ve seen it all” was the response from United fans with a giant banner displayed at the start of the match.

Radu Drăgușin, despite being injured in the second half of the season, ticks off his first major trophy.

On the morning that all of Italy received the news of Pope Francis’ disappearance, I was walking through the streets of Parma looking for a cafe. At an intersection, I stopped next to two ladies who were discussing it in whispers. With a lump in my throat, I did a search on Google. I found the first news published in a few minutes. How sad! It was true, even though many people expected this, almost no one thought it would happen right after Easter.

Then, I walked around a bit more, browsing the internet. A heavy silence filled the small neighborhood I was walking through. I knew that the Parma – Juve match would be canceled, so I went to the front of the stadium. I had a coffee and waited to see what would happen. It didn’t take long for the official statement to come. All the events of Monday, April 21, 2025, postponed.

Anyway, I tried to rearrange my calendar. With the Friday and Saturday matches rescheduled too, I said I’d switch everything to tourist mode until new dates. Parma – Juve was played on Wednesday and I came back for it.

Thursday night, over a beer on the shores of Lake Garda, I said that I would be sorry, since all the matches I had to attend had been postponed, not to be able to make it to Rome. One, because Pope Francis was dear and likeable to me (and I’m not some monument of faith in the churches of the world) and two, because I know many photographers who would have moved mountains to get to his funeral and couldn’t.

So, on Friday morning I quickly sorted out the accreditation, got an accommodation 500 m from San Pietro, got on the first Frecciarossa and off I went.

In addition to the photos, from the top of the Vatican, I watched the grand ceremony with the camera down for minutes on end, just gaping and thinking about how much this man was able to move and change the world.