Champions League final takes spotlight in Berlin - not FIFA

By Mike Collett BERLIN (Reuters) - The trials and tribulations of Sepp Blatter and the stench surrounding FIFA receded into the background as Barcelona and Juventus fans arrived in sweltering Berlin on Friday for Saturday's Champions League final. Hundreds congregated around the Olympic Stadium, the venue for the 1936 Olympics and the 2006 World Cup final as the temperature soared to 28C ((83f) with the forecast for Saturday even higher. By the time the match kicks off at 2045 CET (1945 BST) it should be cooler, but whatever the thermometer reads, emotions will be at boiling point with 74,000 fans watching the first European Cup or Champions League final to be staged in the German capital. One man especially pleased to be sitting down is Juventus fan Nicolo De Marchi who has walked 1,099 kilometres (683 miles) from his home in Turin to Berlin -- and his efforts have earned him a free ticket. The catalyst for his marathon trek was a promise he made when tweeting about the club on their "if we get to the final" hashtag prior to the semi-final win over Real Madrid last month. He vowed to walk if they made it and arrived in Berlin on Friday to collect his ticket from club officials. The city relived something of the division it once knew, in very different circumstances, when the Berlin Wall divided east from west from 1961 to 1989. UEFA organised the Juventus fan park in the east of the city around Alexanderplatz close to the Fernsehturn television tower, once such an icon of East Germany, while the Barcelona fans were in the western half of the city at Breitscheidplatz, close to the World War Two ruined Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtnis church. Cars in Juve and Barca colours were being driven around the city with fans trying their luck to win them by playing various football skill games, and there was no hint of any problems with the match still over 24 hours away. Barcelona are attempting to lift the cup for the fourth time in the last 10 years and the fifth occasion in their history, while Juventus are seeking a first success since 1996. They also won it in 1985 when they beat Liverpool on the night of the Heysel Stadium disaster, and there could be an emotional moment if they triumph on Saturday. Current UEFA president Michel Platini, who scored the winning goal for Juve against Liverpool, could present the Italian club's skipper Gianluigi Buffon with the trophy. (Editing by Ed Osmond)