The tide has fallen: the heads of the big football clubs of the city of Milan have chosen a stadium that will replace the mythological "Giuseppe Matza", commonly known as "San Siro".
The new arena project of Milan and Inter bears the pretentious name "The Cathedral", a testament to the inspiration it drew from the "Duomo", the city's cathedral, which is considered one of Europe's architectural wonders.
The rivalry between Milan and Inter is known for its sharpness, and goes far beyond events on the grass, but one thing the clubs agree on: their new home, which will open in 2027, will be one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world.
Behind the project is the American architectural firm Populous, which enjoys a great reputation in the field of sports.
The projects he has carried out include dozens of baseball stadiums (including New York's new Yankee Stadium) and football stadiums, eight NBA teams' halls, Wimbledon tennis courts and major stadiums for no less than ten Olympic Games.
Populous's architects are no strangers to football.
They have designed several stadiums with huge names: Arsenal's 'Emirates', Tottenham's modern stadium and Wembley's new stadium.
Smaller, more money
The new arena will be built next to the Giuseppe Matza stadium, which is so identified with Milan's teams, and presumably its unofficial name - "San Siro", after the district in which it is located - will stick with it as well.
Matza himself, by the way, starred in the ranks of the two Milanese teams, and scored quite a few goals in the stadium that now bears his name, although his career highs are linked to Inter (or rather, Ambrosiana, as the club was called in fascist times), and therefore Milan fans prefer to omit his name From there the pitch.
They remember that Matza defined the move to Milan as the biggest mistake of his life.
Remember and do not forgive.
Most of them also remember that Milan was the owner of San Siro, because the stadium was built in 1926 with the money of President Piero Pirelli, and was only later sold to the municipality of Milan.
Inter joined as a tenant only in 1947.
San Siro today, Photo: Reuters
The number of seats in the new stadium will be reduced from 75,000 to 65,000 (who will remember that the original "San Siro" was planned to be expanded to 150,000 seats, and only World War II thwarted this?).
The number of viewing booths for the celebrities will actually skyrocket, to ensure additional income for Milan and Inter. In general, the business plan of the new stadium expects the two teams to earn 80 million euros a year from its operation.
Only the memories will remain
and what will happen to the Giuseppe Matza Stadium?
In 2026, exactly one hundred years after its founding, the opening ceremony of the Winter Games will be held on the historic field, and moments of Olympic glory will be to his swan song.
With the completion of its replacement, the stadium - which hosted some 200 editions of the Derby della Madonna, four Champions League finals (two of them in the previous edition, called the European Champions Cup), three Euro Games in 1980 and nine World Cups in 1934 and - 1990 - will be mostly destroyed, making way for a spacious park.
The 11 huge pillars, which define its silhouette, will remain in the old photos and in the memories of the fans, and in the Italian fashion capital the era of the new queen will begin, and probably the most beautiful of all - "the cathedral".
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