the host of the Europa League final, due to its ongoing conflict with neighbouring Armenia. Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who was playing for Arsenal, was given permission to play in the match, but the club raised their concerns about his safety while in the country. Mkhitaryan and Arsenal ultimately decided that he would not travel with the squad to the final match, while the club planned to meet with UEFA after the match to discuss the situation. Several fans from the United Kingdom of Armenian descent were initially denied their entry visas, but allowed into the country after intervention from UEFA. Amnesty International's UK branch criticised the choice of Azerbaijan on the basis of its human rights violations, calling the hosting of the final an "attempt to sportswash its image". Trophy tour The first UEFA Europa League Trophy Tour visited eight European cities, beginning on 5 March 2019 at the Geneva Motor Show, followed by Seville, Berlin, London, Milan, Moscow, and Paris, before concluding at the host city Baku on 16 May 2019. Officials On 13 May 2019, UEFA named Italian Gianluca Rocchi as the referee for the final. Rocchi has been a FIFA referee since 2008, and was previously the fourth official in the 2010 and 2017 Europa League finals. He also officiated the 2017 UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Manchester United. He was joined by five of his fellow countrymen, with Filippo Meli and Lorenzo Manganelli as assistant referees, Daniele Orsato as the fourth official, Massimiliano Irrati as the video assistant referee, and Marco Guida as one of the assistant VAR officials. The other assistant VAR for the final was Szymon Marciniak from Poland, with his compatriot Paweł Sokolnicki serving as the offside VAR official. Opening ceremony English artist Jonas Blue performed at the opening ceremony preceding the final, and was supported by 150 local dancers. Match Summary In a scoreless first half, Granit Xhaka had a shot for Arsenal that clipped the top of the bar and his teammate, Petr Čech, saved low to his left from Chelsea's Olivier Giroud. Giroud opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 49th minute with a low header to the left corner from 12 yards out after a cross from Emerson Palmieri on the left. Pedro made it 2–0 in the 60th minute when he steered a low shot into the right corner from 12 yards out after a