ROME SET FOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

By Duncan Kennedy BBC News, Rome

The fans are ready. The police are ready. The teams are ready. The ground is ready.

European club football's premier event is about to start.

The Champions League Final, Rome 2009, is upon us.

A party atmosphere is gripping the Eternal City, fuelled not so much by alcohol, which has been largely banned for the day, but by sheer exuberance from the devoted supporters who've been drawn here from all corners of the continent.

One of those corners is Leek in the English county of Staffordshire.

Another is Hartlepool, further north in County Durham.

They are the homes of Darren Gibbons and Andrew Connolly, just two of the Manchester United fans who are here, relishing what lies ahead.

We met them as they were banging in the pegs of the tents they were erecting in a field near the stadium.

The camp site has been dubbed Fergie Fields, in honour of Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager they are hoping will carry them to further European glory.

The pegs were proving resilient to the hardened ground, baked by the 30C temperatures Rome has been sweltering under in the past few days.

Andrew's metal hammer did not make it through customs, so he bought himself a plastic one instead, which scored roughly one out of 10 on the useful scale.

"It's as hard as nails, this ground," says Andrew. "And I keep hitting my thumb."

It was all enough for the pair to work up a powerful thirst, but not enough for them to be put off the mouth-watering prospect of the final.

Yesterday we were offered £600 for one ticket, today it's £1,600 Andrew Connolly (left)

"I can't wait," says Darren.

"I've been like a little kid waiting for it," says Andrew.

They nearly did not make it at all.

When planning their trip, the cheapest flight to Italy they could find was around £900 ($1,400;1,025 euros).

So the enterprising duo flew to Nice in France for half that price, hired a car and drove the rest.

I asked them if they had been offered any of the counterfeit tickets en route or since arriving.

"No-one's tried to sell us one, everyone wants to buy one," replied Andrew.

He explained that from the day they were given their tickets at Old Trafford until now, they have lost count of the number of requests they have had to relieve them of their precious entry passes.

"Yesterday we were offered £600 for one ticket, today it's £1,600."

"Are you tempted?" I asked.

"No," replied Andrew, "it's the trip of a lifetime."

"No," echoed Darren. "We have come a long way to see this final. It's fantastic."

They showed me their tickets.

They are not the usual paper ones with a serrated edge to tear off the bottom. These looked more like plastic credit cards.

It is all part of the security measures in place.

When swiped at the stadium turnstiles, the cards will bring up all your personal data. You will only get in if you show secondary ID that matches the information on the card.

Oh, and you can also use the cards to get free transport on Rome's Metro.

The Metro will be one area heavily policed throughout the day.

Officials say they are prepared for trouble makers

Some stations have proved to be flash-points in the past when rival football teams have been playing here.

"Low profile but highly effective," is how Roberto Massucci sees the policing operation. He is the man in charge of security for the city.

"We don't have any concrete intelligence on trouble makers coming here to cause violence," he says, "but we are prepared".

"Our message is the same," says Matthew Donnelly, the British consul in Rome.

"If you come here to cause trouble you will be stopped," he says.

There was no trouble by the Coliseum, where thousands of fans have been queuing to have their picture taken by the Champions League Trophy that is on display inside a plastic cabinet.

No-one could tell us whether it was real or a replica.

It does not really matter.

In a sense, it is a metaphor for Italy itself, which is also on show.

The country wants to host the European Championships in 2016 and wants to showcase its organisational talents with a smooth final.

That is what the fans will be looking for, as well as this incredible football competition reaching its climax on Wednesday night.

BBC NEWS REPORT.