Two of the biggest fan bases in Europe have to share the stadium every week. Here’s how things work. – The actual name of the San Siro is Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, but no one uses that.
Wikipedia writes that the stadium now houses 80,000 spectators, is classified as a Category 4 stadium by UEFA, i.e. the top category and can thus house Champions League finals. Every single match between the two, there are always a lot more requests for seats than tickets.
Inter Milan against AC Milan, red against blue, one half of Italy’s second largest city against the other. The historic Derby della Madonnina is one that captivates sports fans all over the world, the two teams face each other in Serie A and if it also claps in European competitions.
While the historical complexity of why the two teams share a ground is a big part of the mystery and intrigue between the rivalry, the actual day-to-day operation of the stadium is arguably even more unique in the world of football. The stadium has three dressing rooms, two separate entrances for Inter Milan and AC Milan, as well as many other unique design features that come with shared living quarters. However, as far as the fans are concerned, the process of claiming their own seat is much more complicated.
The first thing to say is that the two clubs never play at home on the same weekend, which means that the two sets of fans only cross paths on the ground in large numbers when there is a derby match either domestically or in a European competition. In the event of a derby, the home fans receive a much larger ticket allocation than the away crowd, and in the case of the 2023 Champions League, the first match was AC Milan as the home team for the first leg and Inter Milan as the home team a week later.
On Sunday, there is a derby at the San Siro where AC Milan plays at home.
Where the fans sit also depends on whether the match is “home” or “away”, as both clubs have different away sections. If Inter is the “home” team, Milan’s away fans sit in the Curva Nord (green), while Inter’s away fans tend to be seated in the Curva Sud (blue) stand.
La Repubblica reported that 2 million people applied for tickets to the Champions League matches in 2023. To put it in context, there are about 1.3 million people living in the city of Milan.
The stadium opened on September 19, 1926 with a match between Inter and Milan. Inter won 6-3. – Then with a capacity of 26,000.
In 1934, the San Siro hosted several matches in the World Cup, including the semi-final where the home team Italy beat Austria 1-0. Matches in Euro 1980 and World Cup 1990 were also held here. The San Siro was the scene of Cameroon’s 1-0 win over Argentina in the opening match of the latter tournament.
In addition, three European Cup finals have been played here: the League Winners’ Cup finals in 1965 and 1970, and the Champions League final in 2001.