Saturday 5th November 2022 8:45pm – Serie A – The San Siro, Milan
There are a few stadiums in the world that every fan should try to visit at least once. Wembley, Camp Nou, The Westfalonstadion, Velodrome and of course, The Dripping Pan. But one that should now go to the top of the list is the San Siro, home to the Milanese brothers AC and Internationale. The Stadio Guiseppe Meazza, to give it its full name, is slated for demolition after the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, one hundred years after it first opened, with a new stadium site already being prepared next door.
I’d been lucky enough to have seen a few games in the cathedral of Italian football over the years, the highlight being a Milanese derby which ended 6-0 to AC a few years ago. Whilst you can never call the stadium “comfortable” to watch a game in (one of the reasons for the new stadium), you cannot ever knock the atmosphere.
This may seem a little hard to believe but a ticket for the game versus Spezia on Saturday night cost LESS than entry at the Dripping Pan. Whilst the most expensive seats, almost within touching distance of the multi-millionaire players go on sale for hundreds of Euro, a seat in the third tier for this game was €14. Sounds a bargain doesn’t it? Read on for the downside.
Whilst my trip to Brescia had been a solo effort, the rest of the Fuller clan were meeting me in Milan in time for some pasta and calcio. A trip to the San Siro used to involve a crowded metro journey and then either a tram ride along Via Simone Stratico, or a swift walk along the edge of the racetrack. But the opening of a new metro line (line 5) in 2015 deposits you right on the doorstep of the ground, with your first sight as you exit the station the stadium rising majestically as you come up the escalators with the unique roof looking as it is sitting perilously on top of four giant cylinders.
If, like us, you think in normal English football fans terms about rocking up 10 minutes before kick-off and being in your seat before the game starts then don’t. Fans tend to arrive around an hour before kick-off, savouring the show put on by the ultras in the middle tier of the South (Blue) stand. Sure, we had no delays in going through a security check, having our passports checked against our tickets and negotiating very slim turnstiles but then we had to ascend the south face of the stadium. The good news is in those corner cylinders are ramps that gently climb up. The bad news is as the gradient is relatively low, you must do around 30 laps of the towers before you finally arrive at the concourse, eroding that 10 minutes we had on entering the stadium.
We still had 30 more rows of seats to climb before we found our seats. So whilst a €14 may seem a bargain, it also comes with a guaranteed weight loss programme whether you like it or not. The Ultras were located just below us which meant we could hear them but not really see them, aside from the coordinated flag waving. When they bounced around in unison you felt stand shake. At the far end, in the upper tier were a few hundred Spezia fans, who had made the three hour journey from the town, located on the Liguria, halfway between Pisa and Genoa. They had been allocated the whole tier, which made them feel a bit isolated but they were enjoying the occasion by the looks of it.
Italian football has gone through a shift of power in recent seasons with the star of Juventus fading at the expense of the resurgent Napoli and the new upstarts, Atalanta. Both Milanese clubs have had mixed fortunes – AC Milan won their 19th Serie A title last season, grabbing the crown from Inter, who also won their 19th title in 2020/21. But this season it has been all about Napoli, still unbeaten and 8 points clear. But a win tonight against struggling Spezia would lift the Rossoneri (the red and blacks) into the top four.
The English interest was in Fikayo Tomori, a former Chelsea youngster who after loan spells at Brighton & Hove Albion, Hull City and Derby County, was signed by AC Milan in 2021. The youngster had three caps for Gareth Southgate’s side and was fancied to get a World Cup squad place (unfortunately he was left out as too was Roma’s Chris Smalling).
Being responsible parents, we sent the youngsters off to the bar to get the beers and sat back and watched an excellent game unfold. Whilst it was hard at times to make out the individual players from such a height, the elevated position gave us the opportunity to watch the match unfold in widescreen mode. The Spezia keeper kept his side in the game in the opening exchanges but he was powerless to stop Milan taking the lead in the 21st minute when Hernandez controlled a through ball and volleyed into the net. Naturally, we then had to sit and wait for over 5 minutes which VAR checked the goal before the Ultras could explode into life again to celebrate the goal.
Spezia, against the run of play, equalised on the hour mark – the goal scorer was Daniel Maldini, son of the great Milan defender Paolo and on-loan from AC. The youngster didn’t celebrate although the rest of his team mates, the bench and the fans high up in the stands most certainly did.
Despite numerous chances, fantastic saves and the woodwork coming to the rescue, Milan couldn’t find a winner. We prepared to make an exit for the long walk down and we had no sooner left our seats when Olivier Giroud volleyed home a Tonali cross deep into injury time to score the winner. The veteran striker whipped off his shirt, displaying an impressive six physic for his age and was promptly given a second yellow by the referee, who managed to book seven players in a 16 minute period at the end of the game.
We took the easier option of the stairs down the middle of the towers and got on the metro before the masses. Value for money? Absolutely. AC Milan, like most Italian clubs have an online ticket shop, in English, and tickets can either be printed at home or you can use the QR code on your phone. Don’t expect many frills or luxuries but do expect plenty of noise, atmosphere and memories. With plenty of cheap flights from the UK and hundreds of hotel options, a trip to Milan before the San Siro closes its doors for the last time is a must.
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