How diehard fans are finding unique ways to watch the Champions League final – including at a laundrette!

With just two weeks to go, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund fans are rushing to prepare for June 1’s Champions League final at Wembley.

It is the first time since 2017 that no English club is involved in a final – with an audience. Tens of thousands of hardcore fans will descend on London.

And the global nature of the game means millions of others will be watching via screens in Spain, Germany and further afield.

At this month’s semi-final, Real’s revamped Santiago Bernabeu stood, dressed almost entirely in white, to greet another incredible comeback. Combine that with Dortmund’s iconic ‘yellow wall’ and Wembley’s bottom bowl and it becomes a two-tone spectacle.

Fans in Madrid for the second leg of this month’s semi-final told Mail Sport about their planned journeys – planes, trains and cars – to reach London. Members of Dortmund’s major US-based membership clubs are looking for tickets and flights, joining the thousands arriving from Germany.

Borussia Dortmund has large supporter groups worldwide who are looking forward to the final

But they won’t be the only notable stories and scenes of fans going out of their way to watch club football’s biggest match on June 1.

For fans in South Korea, a Champions League match with an 8 p.m. kick-off will become 4 a.m. the next day. With extra time and penalties it could be a 7am finish.

True hardcore supporters may not have a true hardcore sports bar, so Heineken has made a remarkable effort to collaborate with a chain of 24-hour laundrettes to open venues where fans can gather to watch matches.

Among the spinning drums of the washing machines is one of the few places open all day – and fans have been gathering this season for a late-night beer and around a screen rather than separating their whites into their piles of clothes .

In Vietnam, where there are strict laws on mass gatherings after midnight, supporters recall seeing previous finals in airplane hangers. And their football-loving government will likely look kindly on groups of Real and Dortmund fans who turn up to watch in the early hours of June 2.

One Real supporters club member Nguyen says: ‘We gather in white in the middle of the night to be seen by the players in Madrid.’

On the other hand, Mexico-based hardcore fans Kevin and Toto from Dortmund will benefit from the Saturday kick-off instead of their usual mid-week viewing.

They said: ‘Watching the Champions League in Mexico is not that easy because it is the middle of the working day, but lately we get around 200 people even if it is just for half or a few minutes to watch.

‘We see Borussia Dortmund not just as a passion, but as a way of life. Following Borussia is not just about bleeding the Yellow and Black, but about embracing the team’s values, no matter how far away you are from the stadium.”

Fans gather in laundromats at 4 a.m. to watch matches in South Korea

Heineken hopes to encourage these dedicated fans and help tackle the negative stereotypes of hardcore fans to make football more inclusive with their ‘Cheers to the Real Hardcore fans’ campaign.

Liverpool captain – and Heineken ambassador – Virgil van Dijk says: ‘The ‘Real Hardcore’ fans make me proud and grateful as a player. I think reclaiming this phrase is important. The historical negative connotations are something we need to remove from the game. No one is born a racist. I think the most important things to bring about change are education and communication with each other.”

To help bring some of the ‘real hardcore’ to Wembley, Heineken has reserved places for the showpiece final that can be won as part of a unique weekend experience.

Fans can come in submit their stories about how they’ve gone above and beyond to support the game they love.