Supporters will have to dig deep if they want to watch their team play in the Champions League final in Moscow next month. Fans who are lucky enough to get their hands on a ticket for the match at the Luzhniki Stadium on May 21 will also need a visa, a return flight and a hotel room in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

A basic two-day trip is likely to cost about £2,000, which will seem like peanuts to those whose team finish victorious but money down the drain if their rivals end up lifting the European Cup. Tickets are not available from official sources any more - Manchester United are no longer accepting applications and Uefa stopped selling tickets last month - but that will not stop enterprising supporters from trying their luck on the black market and the internet.

If you want to watch the match like an oligarch, Russian websites are selling VIP tickets for about £6,000 and that includes a perfect view from a large, soft armchair. Several British websites are selling tickets in the United end for between £1,500 and £2,000.

Tickets

Uefa has given each of the four semi-finalists 21,000 tickets, with prices ranging from about £60 to £160, but the deadline for applications has passed. Fans who want to go to the final will have to buy tickets from on-line agents or on the black market. Tickets are changing hands for about £1,000.

Flights

Direct flights between Manchester and Moscow and London and Moscow are sold out, but Finnair can get you from Manchester to Moscow and back for £776 if you do not mind changing planes in Helsinki.

Hotels

Moscow is the most expensive hotel market in the world, with average room rates of £250 a night. Most hotels are fully booked for the night of the final, but some rooms are available in hotels on the outskirts of the city for about £100 a night.

Visa

Fans will need a visa, which costs £45, for the trip. The Russian Embassy in London takes about ten working days to process visa applications.

Weather

The weather in the Russian capital is usually quite mild in May. Expect temperatures of about 19C (66F). Do not forget to pack some designer sunglasses if you want to impress the locals with some oligarch chic.

Red Square

No one can go to Moscow without visiting Red Square to pay their respects at Lenin’s Mausoleum and to take some pictures of the real Red Army.

Food

Moscow has changed beyond all recognition since the collapse of communism. Twenty years ago there were hardly any restaurants in the Russian capital, now you are spoilt for choice. Chinese, Indian, French and Italian . . . Moscow has them all. But if you are feeling homesick, head for York on Trubnaya Street, an English restaurant where you can have fish and chips and a pint of Guinness for 530 roubles (about £11).

Alcohol

Russians like drinking almost as much as they like Gucci, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. Bars and corner shops in Moscow stock a dazzling range of alcoholic drinks. Unadventurous types should head to the Churchill Pub on Leningradsky Prospekt or the Big Pig Pub on Maroseika Ulitsa, where they can belt out every United fan’s new fa-vourite chant:

“Follow, follow, follow,
Because United are going to Moscow,
And there’ll be thousands of Reds,
And we’ll be p***ed out our heads,
Because United are going to Moscow.”

Best of the web

"Hang your heads in shame, all you idiots who doubted him! Will be a sad day when Sir Alex retires!”
Lawman, Redcafe.net

“Whoever wins out of Chelsea and Liverpool will win the Champions League. United are there for the taking.”
Chasney, bbc.co.uk/606

“Man United deserved to go through. Barcelona had more attempts on goal, but United had better attempts. Hope you beat whichever set of long-ball hoofers gets through the other semi-final.”
Super Tom Rosicky, Football365

“Please let it be Liverpool in the final. All our trophies, all their trophies, all on the line for a winner-takes-all and then stuff 'em. They’d trade every one of their European Cups not to lose the final against us.”
dno, Redcafe.net

“We Shall Not Be Moved . . . This is our cup and our competition. We will smash Chelsea and we will leather United once and for all. No time for turncoats, or nonbelievers. Stand firm, and believe.”
YJ, Raotl.co.uk

“I’m going to stick all my savings on Avram Grant’s boys now, I think.”
Basil Helmet, Football365

“We will beat them in Moscow.”
Port, CFC.net

“Anyone need a kidney? I’ll sell mine for a ticket and flights to Moscow.”
Givemeanamethen, Football365