体坛英语新闻：Half a million fans to give Champions League winners a heroes welcome Sunday

LIVERPOOL, June 1 (Xinhua) -- City Hall officials in Liverpool are preparing for up to 500,000 people to crowd into the city Sunday to welcome home Liverpool FC players after their win Saturday in the European Champions League final.

Jurgen Klopp's heroes will arrive back in the city from Madrid for their victory parade in an open top bus after the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the final of Europe's biggest football contest. The whole route from a suburb in South Liverpool is expected to be crowded by fans.

The parade is scheduled to start at 4pm local time, and is expected to take over an hour before it reaches its destination along Liverpool's UNESCO World Heritage Waterfront.

Police in the city have warned of major road closures from 9-30am with traffic diversions, while transport officials are to introduce special arrangements for bus and underground train services.

The parade is taking place as tens of thousands of visitors are already in the city attending two major waterfront events, a River Festival Liverpool and the Bordeaux Wine Festival.

"There is expected to be significant disruption around the parade route," said a city hall spokeswoman.