UEFA.com's reporting team in Dublin will bring you the latest ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League final, in which FC Porto take on near neighbours SC Braga in the first all-Portuguese UEFA club competition final (all times CET).

Tuesday 22.17, London
The blog is now closed and will return tomorrow around 10.00CET with more build-up to the big game. In the meantime, a match preview can be found here, while you can also read about the rise of Porto coach André Villas-Boas.

Tuesday 19.59, John Atkin in Dublin
At the pre-final press conference at the Dublin Arena, Braga striker Lima paid tribute to coach Domingos Paciência, who has already announced that the final will be his last match in charge of the Arsenalistas. "Domingos has tried to keep us calm, working hard and stretching us to the limit," he said. "He's a wonderful coach; he's writing history and I'm confident that we'll put on a wonderful performance and leave Dublin with pride."

Tuesday 19.52, John Atkin in Dublin
Now it is Braga's turn. The Arsenalistas have never been beyond the last 16 in Europe before but if Paciência is overawed by the occasion he is not showing it as he takes to the stage with Alan and Lima.

Tuesday 18.55, John Atkin in Dublin
If André Villas-Boas's side play as fluently as their coach speaks, be it in Portuguese or English, then they stand in good stead. The 33-year-old held court for almost half an hour, talking about Porto's reluctance as favourites ("Braga have beaten every favourite they've faced so far"), memories of Seville in 2003 and why, without Sir Bobby Robson, he may have been asking questions today rather than answering them.

Tuesday 18.20, John Atkin in Dublin
The Porto delegation arrive for their pre-final press conference deep in the chilly bowels of the Dublin Arena. Villas-Boas is flanked by captain Helton and João Moutinho, with the UEFA Europa League trophy almost in reach at the end of the table.

Tuesday 18.10, Kevin Ashby en route to Dublin
Porto and Braga fans are involved in some lively banter in the departure lounge at Gatwick Airport as fans complete the final leg of their journey to Dublin for tomorrow's game. The airline may be budget but their plans are not, as both sets of supporters plan to enjoy the Irish capital's famous hospitality.

George Miguel, a Porto fan travelling with four Braga-supporting friends, said: "We decided if both teams made it to the final that we would travel together to Dublin, in the spirit of fair play and respect! We plan to see the city and drink a lot of beer." Carlos Costa, sporting a red scarf, added: "Most people say Porto are favourites but I believe Braga can win. We have a very good defence and maybe we can score on the counter as their defence is not too strong".

Tuesday 17.39, John Atkin in Dublin
Porto won 2-0 at CS Marítimo on Saturday to become only the third team to finish the Portuguese league season unbeaten, matching Benfica's 1972/73 and 1977/78 achievements. With 27 wins in 30 league games, André Villas-Boas's side also wound up with a record winning margin of 21 points over second-placed Benfica.

Braga slipped to fourth in the final rankings with a last-day defeat by Sporting Clube de Portugal, a position which guarantees them a place in qualifying for next season's UEFA Europa League. If they defeat Porto in Dublin, Braga would go straight into the group stage.

Tuesday 16.59, John Atkin in Dublin
In terms of European pedigree this is no contest: Porto have played nine UEFA competition finals, winning six and losing three; prior to this season Braga had never gone beyond the UEFA Cup round of 16. If recent one-nation finals are anything to go by, though, this one could go right down to the wire; the last time two countries provided both finalists in this competition it went to penalties, Sevilla FC prevailing 3-1 in the shoot-out against RCD Espanyol following a 2-2 draw.

Tuesday 16.22, John Atkin in Dublin
There are nearly two hours to go before the pre-match press conferences start at 18.15CET but journalists are already arriving at the Dublin Arena – admittedly, the carrot cake is pretty good. In all, around 1,000 media personnel will be involved ahead of and during the game tomorrow and much of the €75m worth of television equipment is already set up, though no sign yet of the Spidercam on Irish soil for the first time.

Tuesday 16.05, Nuno Tavares in Dublin
The Dublin Arena pitch looks really amazing as it prepares to stage Ireland's first ever European final. The stadium's green seats are a reminder of where the decisive game is taking place, but tomorrow it will be all blue and red as Porto and Braga contest the first all-Portuguese UEFA club competition final.

Already a good number of fans have made their way to the stadium, with one of them - 27-year-old Luís Mendes - delighted to have a bit of extra time to take a look around the Irish capital. "I'm here for a week because I also want to know a bit more about Dublin," he told me. "I will be at the game tomorrow cheering for Porto and I'm sure we will win 3-0."

Tuesday 15.55, Hugo Pietra in Dublin
The Braga team have arrived in Dublin and are settling in at the Fitzpatrick Castle, their base for the final. The hotel no doubt holds some memories for coach Domingos Paciência and the club's sporting director Fernando Couto, since both stayed their while representing Portugal at EURO '96. Paciência scored in a 3-0 win against Croatia in the final tournament in England, while Couto scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against Turkey, but Portugal bowed out to the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.

Tuesday 15.41, Lisbon
Before flying out to Dublin, Braga president António Salvador was keen to underline his club's reputation as giant-killers. Coach Domingos Paciência reminded the world once again that "Porto are the big favorites to win the competition," but Salvador sounded a note of defiance, saying: "We have proven that we can surpass difficult barriers."

Meanwhile, local newspaper Record unearthed a statistic that will give Salvador's opposite number Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa reason for optimism; the UEFA Europa League final, it notes, takes place exactly 34 years to the day since the Dragons won their first trophy under their current president, beating Braga 1-0 in the 1977 Portuguese Cup final.

Tuesday 14.48, London
They have never before met in Europe but Porto and Braga need no introduction. In domestic football they have faced each other 131 times, Porto claiming 92 wins to Braga's 17 with 22 draws. Porto have triumphed in the clubs' last three meetings, and Braga's last victory – 1-0 at home on 19 September 2009 – is their only win in nine games against their northern rivals.

No previous UEFA club competition final has been contested by sides this close in geographic terms; Porto and Braga are just 47km apart. The previous record was set in the 1988 UEFA Super Cup, between KV Mechelen and PSV Eindhoven whose home cities are 84km apart.

Tuesday 14.03, Hugo Pietra in Dublin
Braga central defender Alberto Rodríguez missed Saturday's 1-0 Liga defeat against Sporting Clube de Portugal with a thigh injury but reports say he will be fit for the final. Sílvio, who missed the Sporting game through suspension, should also return to the team, while Miguel Garcia and Paulo César are fit following slight knocks. Paciência has brought all his players to Dublin, even the ones not registered to play in UEFA club competition this year.

Braga's leading scorer overall in Europe this season remains Matheus, who struck three times in the UEFA Champions League group stage but left the club for Ukrainian side FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the winter. Artur and Sílvio have not missed a minute of Braga's campaign since they switched to the UEFA Europa League, with Mossoró, Leandro Salino, Alan, Hugo Viana and Lima also featuring in each fixture. Alan and Lima also appeared in all six of Braga's UEFA Champions League group stage outings.

Tuesday 13.27, John Atkin in Dublin
Dublin awoke to the quintessentially Irish backdrop of blue skies and persistent drizzle this morning but it will take more than that to dampen the sense of expectation here. With the British monarch in town for the first time in 100 years and United States president Barack Obama expected any day now, the UEFA Europa League has come in a little under the radar. The arrival of 16,000 Portuguese fans on 60 chartered flights is changing all that, though.

Tuesday 13.00, Nuno Tavares in Dublin
The Porto party landed in Dublin yesterday night at around midnight, but the 100 or so fans who were at the airport to greet their heroes were to be disappointed, as – for security reasons – the team went straight from their plane to the bus and on to their hotel. Nevertheless, the mood is buoyant among Porto supporters, with more than 12,000 expected to flood the streets of Dublin before the final.

Porto chairman Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa is more than confident his team will prevail on Wednesday to repeat their 2003 achievement, when they beat Celtic FC 3-2 in Seville to win their first UEFA Cup. "When you reach a final you have to win it," he said before the team's flight to Ireland. "I'm totally confident and very relaxed. We deserve to be here and this will be the fifth European final we reach under my leadership. I hope we'll have reason to celebrate after the final whistle."

Tuesday 12.58, Hugo Pietra in Dublin
They might be here in smaller number, but Braga's supporters are no less confident of success, with around 4,000 fans from the Minho region milling around the Irish capital as the club look to add to their only previous continental success; a UEFA Intertoto Cup triumph in 2008.

Braga finished fourth in the Portuguese table following a 1-0 home defeat by Sporting Clube de Portugal in their final game of the campaign on Saturday, but coach Domingos Paciência is not downhearted. "Given how the season has gone, it's natural that Porto are big favourites," he said. "But it's a final; it's just one match."

Tuesday 12.45, Dublin
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) are warning supporters to leave extra time to get to the Dublin Arena tomorrow due to "a number of other events and VIP visits taking place" in the city. The local police have given guidelines on travel for fans attending the final (which are also available in Portuguese).

Tuesday 12.30, London
The pre-match press conferences for tomorrow's games are scheduled for early this evening. Porto are first up at 18.15, with goalkeeper Helton and João Moutinho expected to join coach André Villas-Boas on the rostrum. Braga are next up at 19.45, with Alan and Lima set to feature alongside their coach.

Tuesday 12.20, London
UEFA.com has put together a terrific raft of features ahead of the final. Porto's 16-goal top scorer Falcao has spoken to us, along with Braga coach Domingos Paciência and the captains of both clubs.

Moreover, we have discovered some exciting statistics about the final, which for the first time sees a coach facing a club he once represented as a player. Dragons' boss André Villas-Boas, meanwhile, could become the youngest coach to win a major UEFA club competition final.

As we await Dublin's first major UEFA club competition final, UEFA.com spoke to former Republic of Ireland forward Mickey Walsh who enjoyed a successful spell as a Porto player.

Tuesday 12.10, London
Excitement is building ahead of tomorrow's game in Dublin, but this could be a good time to make final adjustments to your UEFA Europa League Fantasy Football team, with the winner of this season's competition set to drive away with a new SEAT car. You can also test your footballing acumen with our Predictor game.