San Siro Blockbusters Spell Out Why Serie A Will Be Poorer for The Departure Of Its Grandest Stage

It was a moment that took the breath away. Receiving the ball on the far touchline, cutting in from the left past AC Milan defenders and unleashing with his right boot, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia delivered a goal worthy of his surroundings.

Yes, the Giuseppe Meazza stadium has seen more impressive strikes before it, and more important victories than the one that put Napoli seven points clear at the top of Serie A. But here was another of the top flight’s biggest names making his own little mark on its grandest stage. 

Barely 48 hours earlier, spectators had been treated to one of the most bonkers Derby d’Italia clashes in recent years, with Kenan Yildiz’s cameo stealing the spotlight in a pulsating 4-4 draw between Inter and Juventus.

And yet we’re left wondering just how many more incredible moments we have left to savour at San Siro.

Just last month the ground was stripped of its right to host the 2027 Champions League final. Difficulty in securing the funding for a renovation project proved key, and current noises from both Inter and Milan suggest that projects exploring the building of a new stadium are more feasible. That could even include knocking down the current structure to make way. 

Should that come to pass, the world of football will be all the poorer for it.

The two seismic fixtures it has hosted this week have served as a reminder of its importance to the Italian game, and beyond. Both matches created narratives that were dissected well beyond Italy’s own shores. There is no venue in the country more fitting when its biggest matches are placed under the microscope. 

While some stadiums around Italy are in desperate need of knocking down and starting again, the Meazza is not one of them – in an artistic sense at least.

The four colossal, spiralling pillars jutting out of the sky as you approach are a sight football fans the world over aspire to experience in person. They are the gates to the shining jewel in calcio’s crown.

Inside, running tracks hamper some of Italy’s more famous grounds – notably the Diego Maradonna in Naples and Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Not so the home of Inter and Milan.

The four sides rise sharply from the side of the pitch, the steep design allowing for 76,000 to get inside. When you do, little can prepare you for your first introduction. 

A night under the lights at the Giuseppe Meazza is an assault on the senses. On Tuesday evening, the crescendo of whistles that greets referee Andrea Colombo  as he confronts Antonio Conte is earsplitting. It verges on painful, but you can’t help but be invigorated by it.  The noise generated by Alvaro Morata’s disallowed strike is different – louder, but warmer, as a sea of red and black washes over the stands before the deflating verdict from VAR turns the tide.

On its biggest nights, the stadium is a living organism. There is a heartbeat detectable for miles around. The flags never cease waving in the away end, the chants never subside from the Ultras opposite, sprawling along their entire curva.

This is not a relic in need of removing, it’s still thriving. There is history here, yes, but you sense there is still history to be created, too. 

It is also unique in what it offers. The presence of two of Italy’s top clubs allows the stadium to play host to more mouthwatering fixtures than any other in Europe.

While the likes of the Santiago Bernabeu, Nou Camp or Westfalenstadion have just the one guaranteed blockbuster fixture each season, the rivalries Inter and Milan enjoy with each other and Serie A’s giants ensure a steady stream of huge games. And that’s before you even get to the Champions League opponents the tenants welcome to town.

While some venues can reach mythical status by the incredible atmosphere produced by fans, others generate their stature from the wealth of incredible talent that graces the pitch decade after decade. San Siro can lay claim to have done both.

That wealth of talent doesn’t always produce. Football fans know only too well that big occasions don’t always live up to the hype. But occasionally they do, and when they do they deserve a stage like this. 

A 4-4 Derby d’Italia deserves a stage like this. A Kvaratskhelia stunner deserves a stage like this. Calcio deserves a stage like this. Visit it while you still can.