Final destination: Athens

Given the sheer cost of winning and losing, it is rare to witness a match in the knock-out rounds of football's Champions League competition where both teams throw caution to the wind and entertain the neutral with ninety minutes of attack and counter-attack.

Much more common is a match where no risks are taken and where the stalemate will only be broken by a rare moment of inspiration.

Such was the case with the first of this year's semi-finals, with Liverpool dumping Chelsea out of the competition through a penalty shoot-out after both teams had managed to produce just two goals between them in more than three-and-a-half hours.

While for the neutral, these games seldom live long in the memory, for interested parties last night's game and others like it would have been a tense and dramatic affair and, given that the attacking flair of Arsenal and Barcelona only got them so far, such tactics are understandable.

It is fitting therefore that the 2007 Champions' League Final is set to take place in a city named in honour of the Greek Goddess of wisdom and the more disciplined side to warfare.

While Ares was the patron of the spirit of adventure and daring-do, Athena represented the use of pragmatism and cunning intelligence as the means to victory.

Since ancient times, Athens has been irrevocably linked to games, of which the final of May 23rd will be just the latest in a long list of significant sporting events, including the ancient Olympiad and the first of the modern Olympic Games in 1896.

However, it is the work that was done for the 2004 Summer Olympics that has transformed the Greek capital into the modern city it is today and will be the greatest impression that Liverpool – and either Manchester United or Milan - fans will get of the city.

The centrepiece of the 2004 games, the 71,000 capacity Olympic Stadium, will host the biggest game in the calendar of club football, with fans able to benefit from the renovations and improved transport links developed for the games.

From when the city was awarded the games in 1997, almost £26 million was spent during the run-up to 2004.

Indeed, no city within the EU has benefited from such a level of financial investment as Athens has over the past decade, with the improvements all too apparent to tourists and locals alike.

What was once a run-down, smog-infested city centre, has now been cleaned up, making the back streets of Athens an ideal location to wander around and get a sense of the city's history before heading to the match.

Even the Acropolis, the symbol of Athens and its ancient heritage, benefited from a makeover less than three years ago, while the momentum achieved by the city has furthered its case to regain possession of the Parthenon Marbles, currently residing in the British Museum.

Perhaps of more importance to the visiting football fan is that the city's bars and restaurants likewise benefited from this investment, with dingy taverns replaced with chic, contemporary bars within the city's centre, ideal for those wishing to toast their team's victory, or else drown their sorrows before the short flight home.