Appeal for Uefa Cup calm

A street vendor sells both clubs' flags

Police in Copenhagen are confident of a peaceful Uefa Cup final between Arsenal and Galatasaray, as they carry out the largest security operation for a football match in Denmark.

Officials from both teams have appealed for calm ahead of Wednesday evening's match.

Five thousand Danish police officers have been drafted in. They are being joined by officers from England and Turkey.

I've been here since Saturday and the atmosphere has been brilliant

Paul Robinson

Fears of reprisals against Turkish fans, following the death of two Leeds United supporters in Istanbul last month, have so far proved unfounded.

Fans of both teams mingled together in the Danish capital on Tuesday evening.

Arsenal fan Paul Robinson, 37, from Newport, Gwent, said: "The media talk about trouble but I've been here since Saturday and the atmosphere has been brilliant."

"Everyone has been mingling quite happily and the police have been good - a very low-key operation.

'Not a war'

"I hope there won't be any trouble - it's not football fans who cause it, but the hangers-on."

Superintendent Flemming Munch, spokesman for the Copenhagen police, said they were prepared for any trouble.

"But we do not expect it," he said. "It is a happy occasion, it is a football match - not a war."

Arsene Wenger: Concerns

The city's bars will not be closed before the match and at the stadium, a special fence is being built to keep rival supporters apart.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said his team had taken extra security measures ahead of the match.

"I am worried a little bit that there are so many people in the city that anything can happen, like an explosive city," he said.

"When you go to a football match, you want to enjoy it and have fun, so why should it be hell for people who go to support their team?"

Galatasaray's general secretary Sinan Kalpakcioglu said Galatasaray would rather lose the cup if it prevented another tragedy.

Bookies odds

Arsenal: 1-2

Galatasaray: 6-4

And club coach Fatih Terim appealed for calm, whatever the result.

"This is a football match. Anything can happen - lose or win - it doesn't matter for us," he said.

Arsenal are favourites to lift the trophy and repeat their 1994 Cup Winners Cup success in the same city over Italian side Parma.

But Galatasaray, the first Turkish side to reach a European Club final, will be confident having just won have just won the Turkish championship for the fourth year in a row.

British bookmaker William Hill quotes Arsenal as 1-2 favourites to lift the cup, with Galatasaray at 6-4.

The London club has been boosted by a promise from manager Arsene Wenger that he will stay with the club until his contract expires in 2002.