Cardiff to host 2017 Champions League final

The Millennium Stadium is more used to hosting rugby matches Credit: Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport

Wales’ Millennium Stadium will be the host venue for the top game in European club football, the Champions League Final in 2017.

The decision comes a short time after Wales missed out on being named as one of 13 host cities for the first pan-continental European Championship finals in 2020, a decision that saw England, Scotland and Ireland chosen ahead of Wales in the bidding process.

The 2017 final is expected to become the highest profile event to be held in the capital since the ground was erected in 1999.

An estimated 165 million people watched the 2013/14 final between Real Madrid and Athletico Madird at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa in Portugal with a similar number expected to tune in to Cardiff’s version of the game in two years time.