President Čeferin impressed by Portugal's achievements

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has praised the work of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) in delivering the UEFA Champions League final tournament while in Lisbon this week.

European football's premier club competition will conclude in the Portuguese capital on Sunday when Paris face Bayern at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, following a series of pulsating games in the quarter-final and semi-final stages.

Great work all round

Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica will host the UEFA Champions League final on 23 AugustUEFA via Getty Images

Mr Čeferin, who was accompanied on his visit to Lisbon's 'Cidade do Futebol' by Portuguese prime minister António Costa and FPF president Fernando Gomes, has been impressed by the teamwork and spirit of solidarity that has made staging the competition in such a short time possible.

"First of all, it's a very difficult situation all around Europe and all around the world," he said. "For now, things are going very well thanks to the great work of the Portuguese Football Federation and the Portuguese government."

Prime minister Costa also spoke about the importance of hosting the Champions League for Portugal's image. "It is one of the best testimonials that there can be of Portugal, which is seen as the safest country to organise such a competition at a time so dramatic for the world due to the crisis of COVID-19," he said. "Since this decision we have already had several other events, namely in motorsport and motorcycling, that also chose Portugal to carry out their activity."

FPF president Gomes made a positive assessment of the first week of the final phase of the Champions League: "Everything has been as expected, without major problems. We are proud of our competence, of our organisational ability and, above all, I believe that we have contributed in a very significant way to the resumption of football. It is also important that these signals are given so that football can return to our lives and become again an activity extremely relevant to people's satisfaction."

Portugal's city of football

President Čeferin at the 'Cidade do Futebol'

During the visit, Mr Čeferin was able to assess the FPF's new headquarters, which not only provides training facilities and a 'Casa dos Atletas' (Athletes' House) for national teams, but also houses the organisation's staff and includes media studios for Canal 11, the multimedia platform and TV channel created by the FPF.

"It's an impressive building," said Mr Čeferin. "When you see this training centre, you see that the success of Portuguese football is not a coincidence. To expect success like that all the time is a bit too optimistic, but it's a miracle for me. For a country that is actually not a big country, your success is absolutely magic and unbelievable. So big respect to Portuguese football."

The 2019/20 UEFA Champions League final takes place on Sunday 23 August. You can find out all the details about the game, and the venue, here.