Man City fans walk on motorway to get to Champions League final amid Istanbul travel chaos

Some Manchester City fans decided it would be quicker to walk on the motorway in order to reach the Champions League final as Istanbul became gridlocked on Saturday night.

With the Ataturk Stadium an hour away from the centre of Istanbul, fans were advised to arrive at the City fan park as early as 2pm ahead of a 10pm kick off, local time. Only one main road services the stadium and one metro line, so traffic jams were predicted well in advance of the final.

Even with plenty of warnings, footage on social media shows hundreds of City fans abandoning their cars or taxis and walking along the side of the motorway to get to the stadium in time for kick-off.

Other images and reports from social media showed huge queues outside the stadium to get in after the fan part closed 90 minutes before kick-off.

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The City team coach had to receive an escort through the same traffic, with helicopter footage showing the two club-branded buses using the hard shoulder to creep through traffic on the way to the stadium.

A nearby fire also filled the sky around the Ataturk Stadium with smoke ahead of kick-off as fans were making their way into the stadium.

Fans had descended on Istanbul and created a raucous atmosphere in the build-up to Saturday's final, with videos on Friday showing hundreds taking to the bars and streets of the Turkish capital and soaking in the occasion.

City are looking to win the Champions League for the first time, and in doing so would emulate Manchester United's achievement of 1999 in winning the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and European Cup.