Rotterdam is a global trading hub, the only Dutch city with a skyline, and one with a long history of a hard-working labour class. A true city of the people.

Rotterdammers have an expression that goes “niet lullen, maar poetsen”, which roughly translates to “no d-cking about, get to work”.

What other city could better exemplify Vitality’s hard work to the top other than this one?

The road to the arena is a comfortable one. If you take the metro from the architecturally imposing Central Station, Line D or E will take you to Zuidplein - but not before rising above the ground and crossing the Maas river. Here is where you’re treated to a beautiful view of the city’s modern architecture, along with the port, SS Rotterdam ship, and the famous watertaxis.

After that, it’s a short walk to what we all came for: the arena. Ahoy is a respectable size for these kinds of events, hosting around 14,000 excited fans ahead of the Grand Final.

Boy, were those fans amazing.

On any given day, you lot cheered in a scarily close to fifty-fifty division for both teams, and the city’s Turkish diaspora came out in previous days as well to give us one hell of a show in support of Aurora.

As anxious fans filled the arena, anticipation filled the room. With the countdown on the big screen getting ever closer to zero, stage host Darfmike - alongside pasha - did a quick check with the crowd: Vitality or NAVI?

If the cheers were to be believed, the game would’ve ended in a tie. If only such a thing were possible.