WALK OVER
Hundreds of Man City fans abandoning taxis and walking along motorway amid fears of getting into Champions League final
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HUNDREDS of Manchester City fans were forced to abandon their taxis while heading to the Champions League final.
Ataturk Stadium is located around an hour west of Istanbul city centre.
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But many frustrated City and Inter Milan fans were left with no option but to WALK.
The motorway towards the stadium from the city was gridlocked with buses and taxis.
And such was the congestion, that many have opted to get out of their taxis in order to walk the rest of the way.
Reporter Matt Pearson tweeted: "Hundreds of Manchester City fans are having to walk along the edge of the motorway with the road to the Ataturk Olympic stadium gridlocked.
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"Shuttle buses from the fan park also barely moving."
Pearson then added: "It’s a long walk uphill and still pretty warm. Locals selling water, beer and food at the roadside. It’s still 2 and a half hours until kick off."
The Independent's Miguel Delaney also described the chaos outside the ground.
He wrote in a series of tweets: "Total bottleneck around the stadium, traffic a standstill and many fans getting out to walk.
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"This stadium itself is good as an arena but the infrastructure - 18 years on from the shambles of 2005 - isn't good enough for a Champions League final."
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Delaney later added: "It honestly should not be this difficult for fans to get to a stadium for a major fixture - it's 2023.
"Costs fortunes to come to these events and fans potentially miss some of it and have occasion ruined by just bad planning."
Ataturk Stadium was the scene for Liverpool's famous Champions League comeback victory over AC Milan.
Fans experienced similar travel issues ahead of that match.
Saturday's issues come 12 months on from last year's distressing scenes outside the Stade de France in Paris.
Ticketing issues and errors by heavy-handed cops at last year's final endangered Liverpool supporters in attendance.
Earlier this week, fans were urged to head to the stadium NINE hours before kick-off.
Uefa chiefs were keen for fans to board shuttle buses at 1pm local time ahead of the 10pm kickoff.
They anticipated supporters arriving at around 2pm, before joining fanzones outside the stadium serving food and beer.
Upon arrival, fans are required to pass through THREE separate security checkpoints before entering the ground.
The first will require their phone bluetooth to be switched on as tickets are activated.
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They will then be searched twice - once by police and a further time by a private security firm.
Their evening went on to be a happy one, with Rodri's winner sealing City's first ever Champions League title... and their historic Treble.
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