31 Mar 2008Santiago Bernabeu to host 2010 Champions League final

Uefa has chosen Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium ahead of Wembley to host the 2010 Champions League final.

Bids from Munich and Berlin were dismissed as Real Madrid will be the hosts for the fourth time.

The stadium is a 71,569 all-seater and hosted the final in 1957, 1969 and 1980.

It recently received the 'Elite Stadium' tag from Uefa - an essential component of any stadium bidding to host the final.

The last time Wembley hosted the final was in 1992 when Barcelona beat Sampdoria 1-0 after extra time.

Meanwhile, Arsenal's home of the Emirates Stadium was surprisingly turned down in its bid to host the 2010 Uefa Cup final after Hamburg's stadium was given the honour.

A statement from Uefa read: "The home stadiums of Real Madrid and Hamburg were chosen on the basis of capacity, facilities, accommodation and security, among other considerations."

This year's Champions League final will be held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow while the Stadio Olimpico in Rome will stage the event in 2009.

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