A win for Berlin

Germany's capital was chosen against several unnamed candidates, two days before the first all-German Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

"Two beautiful venues for our finals in 2015," said UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino at a news conference. Poland's capital, Warsaw, was announced as the host of the 2015 final of the Europa League.

The final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium will be the second time in three years that Germany hosts a Champions League final, following that in 2012 between Bayern Munich and Chelsea in Munich. It will be the first European final in Berlin, which hosted the 2006 World Cup final and the Olympic Games in 1936.

"I had expressed our wish during the 2012 final in Munich to [UEFA president] Michel Platini that we would like to pretty soon host again such a global event," said the president of the German Football Federation (DFB), Wolfgang Niersbach, in a statement.

"It is a recognition of our abilities as organizers and hosts that this will now happen so soon. I thank UEFA for the trust and promise a superb football celebration in Berlin."

Poland has never staged a major European final, but did host Euro 2012 with Ukraine. The refurbished National Stadium in Warsaw hosted the opening match of last year's European Championship between Poland and Greece, as well as the semi-final in which Italy beat Germany 2-1.

The 2014 Champions League final will be held in Lisbon, Portugal while Turin, Italy will host the Europa League final.

jr/jm (Reuters, dpa, AFP)