Flying high: FC Barcelona on their way to Tbilisi (VIDEO)
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Some of the world’s best footballers are on a private plane bound for Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
Spanish team FC Barcelona is due to arrive in Tbilisi this afternoon ahead of tomorrow’s UEFA Super Cup final in the capital city.
The 25-strong team, which includes forwards Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, left El Prat Airport in Barcelona at 9.25am (CET) on a charter flight that will take them directly to Tbilisi where they will face Sevilla FC in tomorrow night’s Super Cup final.
Watch the players about to board their flight to Tbilisi below.
The players about to board their flight to Tbilisi #Supercup#FCBSevillapic.twitter.com/OHIEy0tn5U
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 10, 2015
The flight is expected to take about five hours and the team is due to land on Georgian soil around 4pm local time. Once in Tbilisi the party will head to their central city hotel before leaving for the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena for a training session later this evening.
Their opposition, Sevilla FC, arrived in the Georgian capital yesterday.
The highly anticipated match will kick off on 8.45pm CET (10.45pm local time) on August 11 at Dinamo Arena. All tickets to the game sold out weeks ago.
A spokesperson from Georgia’s Interior Ministry said Tbilisi police will patrol at and nearby the stadium, and nearby streets will be temporarily closed to ensure safety for tomorrow’s game.
Meanwhile Barcelona FC’s first day in Tbilisi will be one of "frantic activity” said the team’s official website.
Before tonight’s training session coach Luis Enrique and players Andres Iniesta and Dani Alves will appear in a press conference before the team training.
Coach Enrique selected 25 players for the trip to Tbilisi, including injured right back Douglas Pereira dos Santos and full-back Jordi Alba. Also included in the squad are two players who are unavailable until January; Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal.
The only man not making the trip is Neymar, who was diagnosed with parotitis (mumps) on Sunday and is now out of action for two weeks.
The FC Barcelona party will be led by president Josep Maria Bartomeu and he will be accompanied by sporting vice president Jordi Mestre, vice president of the financial area Susana Monje and Board Members Silvio Elías and Emil Rousaud.
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual sporting challenge between the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions – the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
FC Sevilla is arriving in Tbilisi today to prepare for next week's UEFA Super Cup final in Georgia’s capital. The highly anticipated match will take place on August 11 at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena. The other team, Barcelona FC, is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
Foreign football fans can purchase tickets to the UEFA Super Cup football game Barcelona vs Sevilla online via www.biletebi.ge, while Georgian fans will need to wait until next week to buy printed tickets from a box office.
A top Georgian Football Federation official is calling on law enforcement agencies to investigate potential cases of sabotaging ticket sales to the much-anticipated Barcelona-Seville football match.
The only website selling tickets to the much-anticipated Barcelona-Sevilla game has crashed after 10,000 football fans tried accessing the site this morning.
FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC are coming to Georgia to compete in the second straight all-Spanish UEFA Super Cup.
Tickets for the UEFA Super Cup football game Barcelona vs Sevilla will go on sale tomorrow from 9am, announced the president of the Georgian Football Federation today.
Below is a live Twitter feed of their thoughts, hopes and predictions for the Tuesday August 11 match at Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi. Use the hashtags #SuperCup and #SuperCup2015 to join the discussion.
Tomorrow night’s match is expected to be opened with a grandiose ceremony at Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena.
Hundreds of Georgian fans gathered around the city to greet one of the world’s best football teams – FC Barcelona - as it arrived in capital Tbilisi today.
The Prime Ministers of Estonia and Romania are coming to Tbilisi to watch the UEFA Super Cup game between two of the world’s best football teams – FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC – this evening.
Georgia’s national stadium has undergone a 20 million GEL facelift ahead of tonight’s UEFA Super Cup match featuring world class football teams FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC.