Nearly 4,000 police officers will be on duty in Budapest on Saturday as the UEFA Champions League final brings a surge of supporters, road closures and air traffic to the city around Puskas Arena.

Kuczik János Zoltán said fans of Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal had already bought more than 17,000 tickets each, while information suggested that tens of thousands more would arrive in Budapest without tickets. The police are expecting the kind of crowd pressure that can turn a major match day into a public order test, especially with both sets of supporters described as prone to disturbances.

The scale is already showing elsewhere in the city. A fan zone has been set up at Hősök tere, Arsenal supporters can gather at Napozórét in Városliget, and PSG supporters are being directed to MTK Sportpark. Roads near Puskás Aréna and the fan zones will close from 6 a.m. on Saturday, including parts of Dózsa György út, Stefánia út, Ajtósi Dürer sor, Thököly út and Kerepesi út where fans are expected to march. The section of Andrássy út between Bajza utca and Hősök tere will also be shut to car traffic, while parking bans will be enforced in some public areas and abandoned cars will be towed.

Budapest Airport is bracing for the same weekend rush. From Friday to Sunday, it expects around 2,000 aircraft movements and 250,000 passengers, and it will temporarily reopen Terminal 1 of Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport. All London flights, including commercial services, will arrive there, while runway 1 will be closed on Saturday and parked aircraft placed on it. Passengers are being asked to arrive at least two and a half hours before departure, with a bus service running to Terminal 1 and special charter buses carrying travelers to the fan zones. Airport buses and metro trains will run every two to three minutes, and Tram 1 will also operate more frequently. Anyone with a match ticket can use all Budapest public transport.

The preparation reflects the size of the occasion. Police said they have been working with UEFA for a year, and the final is among the world’s most watched sporting events; last year’s match drew 148 million television viewers. For Budapest, the challenge is not just hosting the game at Puskas Arena but keeping the city moving while tens of thousands of extra fans, thousands of flights and a full security operation all arrive at once.