Champions Week video magazine

UEFA.com is at the UEFA Champions Festival in London which is helping to link the grassroots of the game to the elite during the build-up to Saturday's UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.

Based in Hyde Park, 9km from the iconic stadium, the UEFA Champions Festival is giving youngsters the chance to have their photograph taken with the trophies from both the men's and women's UEFA Champions League competitions as well as to take part in other fun activities. The opportunity for young people to get involved and play football themselves is never greater than today, which is designated as UEFA Grassroots Day.

"It's a special day," says Sir Trevor Brooking, head of football development at the English Football Association. "It highlights the importance of how crucial [youth and grassroots football] is long term. From where I am in football development, we've managed to sustain the growth, particularly in mini-soccer. When we say mini-soccer we mean almost up to 11 really, where you're playing small-sided games with boys and girls."

Another former England international Graeme Le Saux describes the pan-European impact of UEFA Grassroots Day, while the UEFA.com team also checks out the legacy of past competition winners by hearing from the AC Milan side victorious in the first Wembley final of 1963. We also dip into the present by getting Manchester United FC manager Sir Alex Ferguson's thoughts on the final against FC Barcelona.

All of which appears in the first of UEFA.com's four-part magazine series celebrating Champions Week in London.