Graziano Mannari has his favourite San Siro moment and who can blame him. It came in March of 1989 when he was introduced as a substitute with AC Milan already two up against Juventus. “The crowd was in full celebration mode,” he tells Sky Sports.
“They were chanting ‘olè’ with every pass we made. The ball circulated beautifully among the entire team – Franco Baresi, Mauro Tassotti, Carlo Ancelotti, Marco van Basten – again and again, and each touch drew another roar of ‘olè’ from the stands.
“In my head, I kept thinking, ‘I just want to touch the ball once, so I can get my own ‘olè’ too!’ But the ball never came my way – until Roberto Donadoni whipped in a perfect cross. I rose, connected with a diving header, and buried it into the top corner.
“There was no gentle chant of ‘olè’ that time – the stadium erupted in a thunderous ovation. In that split second, as I landed, I could not quite believe I had scored. But my teammates rushed over to hug me. Later, I scored again to make it 4-0. It was a dream.”
Mannari’s memory is one of thousands of special San Siro moments. The following month that AC Milan team would beat Real Madrid 5-0 in a European Cup semi-final that signified a power shift in the game, ushering in the era of Italian domination on the continent.
At the following year’s World Cup, San Siro hosted the opening game as Cameroon stunned Diego Maradona’s Argentina. Since its inauguration in 1926, with Inter’s 6-3 win over Milan, it has been home to great matches, moments and even photographs.
Marco Materazzi and Rui Costa look on during a Champions League tie in 2005
The old image of Milan’s Rui Costa and Inter’s Marco Materazzi watching on as the flares rage inside San Siro has become a symbol. Unity and division. Beauty and the beast. It offers a snapshot of the Italian game at its most evocative but also at its most volatile.
Inter’s legendary captain Javier Zanetti played in that game. “It will always be a stadium that brings memories,” he tells Sky Sports. “And it brought a lot of victories.” A personal favourite was his debut. “I could never have imagined that it was the first of 858 games.”
Javier Zanetti pictured during his playing days with Internazionale
Christian Eriksen’s Serie A debut for Inter came in the Derby della Madonnina. He would go on to score a winner in the fixture. “It is an amazing stadium,” he tells Sky Sports. “The Milan end and the Inter end, the different curvas. The history speaks for itself.”
For Mannari, that history represents football as high culture. He compares it to La Scala. “Just as the famous Milanese opera house hosted the most beautiful performances and the greatest artists, this stadium has staged the finest displays of the game,” he says.
But a century after it all began, the clock is ticking for this San Siro. Plans are afoot to knock it down. “They have been saying that for the last 10 years,” says Eriksen, slightly disbelieving. But this time plans are gathering pace after the council approved its sale.
Milan and Inter will be the owners now, sharing the rights and responsibilities over the construction of a new stadium, built just to the west in the San Siro neighbourhood. “Hopefully, they keep some of the old stadium,” adds Eriksen. That is part of the plan.
Iconic stadium design
His wistfulness for the old place is understandable. Iconic is a word so overused that its meaning has long since been diluted but how else to describe San Siro. While Wembley always had its own power, the Maracana too, this place is the stadium in the mind’s eye.
Those concrete towers spiralling skywards, the protruding red girders making it seem like a spaceship under construction. Other places creep up on you. The incongruous San Siro can be seen for miles around. Like all cathedrals, it is designed to inspire awe.
“Playing at the San Siro, with its towering rings of stands pressing close to the pitch on all sides, it really feels like you are stepping into another dimension. You cannot even hear yourself speak to your teammates – you have to shout,” explains Mannari.
“The ground literally shakes when the crowd erupts in joy or whistles in disapproval. It is truly an indescribable, unique sensation. Unless you have experienced it firsthand, it is hard to imagine it. It is the most beautiful stadium that I have ever played in.”
But what makes it beautiful? That is a little harder to explain. If one were to draw a stadium, San Siro might be an early effort but is that because of something innate or because of its fame? In a world of sleek stadia, this feels different. And more so now.
Meeting modern demands
Andrew Edge is an architect specialising in stadia design. The company he works for, Arup, is currently working on the project to refurbish Fiorentina’s new stadium. He is well placed to discuss the aesthetics but also appreciate the role of these amphitheatres.
“Stadiums are a fundamental part of a club’s history but often they have been in the background of the story. However, today we are seeing modern-day designs that firmly places the stadium at the very centre of a club’s image or brand that makes them stand out and instantly recognised around the world,” he tells Sky Sports.
“Stadiums are the stage-set that allows the fans to experience those memorable matches or events to happen so it is really important when designing a new stadium to understand the essence and soul of a club and identify those key ingredients that will that stadium so different and special.”
And not to lose them. A portion of the second tier is to be used in the construction of the new San Siro. “There are characteristics that people will immediately identify when they think about the San Siro. The red roof truss or the spiral ramps for example. They are all part of the stadium’s DNA. You have to acknowledge these special characteristics and use them as inspiration,” says Edge.
A general view inside of the Giuseppe Meazza San Siro stadium in Milan during the late 1980s
“When you design a new stadium it is really important to respect the strong emotional connections fans have with the old ground. You have to manage the transition and it takes time. It takes time to become familiar with it, get used to it, understand how it operates and to start forming an attachment or bond to the new stadium.
“To make this transition a success it is essential to have the physical points of reference and nods to the past stadium integrated into the new design. The personal stories on the walls, photos of famous players, memories of certain goals or incredible matches.
“It is about how you tell ‘your’ story. That creates the emotion, that inspires the fans, that builds the amazing atmosphere and together with an iconic designs creates a truly special stadium.
‘Fantastic opportunity for Milan’
“Milan have a fantastic opportunity to create another version of the San Siro. You have the perfect ingredients – the unique histories of both teams, an iconic stadium that deserves an equal, all set in a global city like Milan with inspiration from history, architecture, fashion, music and food that will make it very, very special.”
The change is needed. One of the many catalysts for this move was the fact that San Siro was deemed not fit to be a host venue for Euro 2032 in its current state. Unthinkable. But a consequence of modernity and the changing demands of the consumer.
“There has definitely been an increase in the evolution of stadium design over the last 20 years or so. Both from what we think a stadium is but also from what fans expect when they arrive at them.
“We always break down the fans’ experience to understand every step of their journey through the spaces we design to their seat in the seating bowl. How will fans interact with the physical spaces in stadium. How will they feel? What will they hear?
“It is about creating the spaces that stimulate the human emotions and stir the senses. It is about creating the drama and excitement and doing so in an authentic way.
“This speed of evolution is only increasing. There is the natural competition between teams and stadium owners to have more seats or the latest technology, for example. But the world is changing too. Trends changes. Fashions change.
“Fan expectations are increasing too. So as stadium designers we have to adapt and respond and design accordingly and build in this flexibility so the stadium can evolve too.
“Clubs are constantly tweaking and changing their stadium and the experiences they provide. Some of these new stadiums are under five years old!” Many Italian grounds are as they were for Italia ’90.
‘It will always be in San Siro’
Given that “refurbishment projects can be even more challenging to bring up to modern-day standards” a new San Siro was always inevitable. The old place will host the opening ceremony of next month’s winter Olympics. But we are in the endgame now.
Even those with more reason to be emotive about the subject can understand the need for change. “The historical part is something you will miss but it does need an upgrade, I think,” concedes Eriksen. While Zanetti, now the vice-president of Inter, is on message.
“Everything has changed,” he explains. “I believe a team as important as Inter across the world needs a new, cutting-edge stadium. The important thing is that it will always be in San Siro. I hope that we will be able to create special memories there too.”
And San Siro will echo to those chants of ‘olè’ once again.