• Inter Milan "receives" AC Milan at San Siro after taking a big option on the qualification in the first leg (2-0).
  • The two clubs, which have been used to sharing the same stadium for decades, could soon see their paths separate, while a renovation project proposed by Milan City Hall seems to have stalled.

You have to have lived it to understand. Walk through the streets without much charm of the San Siro district, in western Milan, until you cross the path of the giant who weighs all his aura. Outside, Giuseppe Meazza – for Inter – or San Siro – for AC Milan – encourages the almost religious contemplation of its multiple striated columns. Inside, one fixes with admiration the famous pillars on which rests a majestic roof, giving the place a unique acoustics.

Of course, the charm of the enclosure cannot be reduced to its architecture. It would be to ignore the weight of history and the glorious victories gleaned by the two hosts on their turf, to forget the Maldini, Baresi, Van Basten, Ronaldo, Zanetti, Adriano, the list is far too long. It would also obscure the confusing bipolarity of the place during the derbies of the Madonnina, especially in the European Cup. One day prophets in their country, players find themselves hated and driven out the following week. Quite a concept. The former Rossonero goalkeeper, Dida, knows something about it: during a fratricidal quarter-final of the Champions League in 2005, he was caught in a shower of interist smoke, and hit in the shoulder. "I was scared, but I'm fine." The Brazilian will get away with a burn and Inter a defeat on the green carpet.


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If it follows the logic of the first leg (2-0 victory of Inter), the European derby of 2023 will seem very unremarkable in the eyes of the previous ones. Unless it is the last to Giuseppe Meazza, on probation since the announcement, in 2019, of its future destruction by the president of AC Milan, Paolo Scaroni, with the blessing of Inter.

The initial idea being to stay in the district of San Siro, it was to build a new common stadium ("The Cathedral") in front of the old one, whose (partial) demolition would not take place before 2026: the "Scala del Calcio", which will celebrate its 100th anniversary, is destined to host the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. A point on which the city of Milan, owner of the premises, has been inflexible from the beginning.

Between the duty of modernization and opportunism

To justify the move, the leaders of both clubs, and especially Scaroni, do not hesitate to redouble their imagination. Several more or less reasonable justifications were heard.

The most pragmatic: the essential modernization of the stadium would be too long and expensive, and would raise the question of the temporary relocation of Inter and Milan.

The least glorious: the installation of new VIP boxes is too complicated in the old San Siro while the new stadium, reduced to 60,000 seats, would make room for premium spaces. The latter are vital for inflating ticketing revenues.

The most heartbreaking: That of Paolo Maldini, at Corriere della Serra. The technical director is ready to leave the Maldini home to help the two Milans return to the European summits. "This is my home. My dad played it too, and my son plays it, no one can feel more hurt than me. But if we want Milan and Inter to return to the European elite, we need a new stadium, there is no alternative. »

The most cheeky, signed Scaroni to Radio 24: "San Siro is not iconic in itself, it is because Milan and Inter play there. "

This last observation is in line with a conclusion of the Regional Heritage Commission of Lombardy, which had estimated in a statement oozing snobbery from all pores that "the building called Giuseppe Meazza stadium has no cultural interest, which excludes it from the protection provisions".

Laura Pausini at Giuseppe Meazza's bedside

As such, popular pressure stands as the last bastion for the preservation of San Siro. According to a recent poll by La Gazzetta dello Sport, 59% of Milanese are against the destruction of La Scala del Calcio, a score that rises to 64% for Rossoneri fans. Since 2019, petitions and negative reactions have multiplied, and a collective, the "Si Meazza" committee, has been formed to campaign for the safeguarding of the site. He counts among his supporters several names of the music scene, including Laura Pausini and, of course, names of Milanese football. Starting with Roberto Donadoni AC Milan player for more than ten years.

San Siro remains a stadium recognised worldwide as a symbol of Milan, believes the former Italy international. From a sentimental point of view, thinking about demolishing a symbol like San Siro is crazy. Common sense solves everything. You can modernize San Siro without destroying it. There are also many successful examples abroad. »

But the biggest initiative around the future of Meazza is a big public debate to the credit of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. Recently closed, its conclusions are however unclear. For his part, the mayor of the city, Giuseppe Sala, gave the two clubs 90 days (starting in April) to reformulate a new economic plan on the sidelines of a redevelopment of the stadium or to signal their definitive abandonment of the new project on the site of San Siro. The municipality is wary of the financial guarantees that can provide or not Inter and AC Milan, whose identity of owners is foggy, as recalled by L'Equipe in an article of 2022.

Inter and AC Milan separated for the first time since 1947?

Sala is also torn between a desire not to offend the inhabitants of the city too much and the great opportunity to revitalize a dilapidated neighborhood at the expense of the princess: the initial project, as proposed by the architectural firm Populous, was estimated at 1.2 billion euros (600 million from the pocket of each club) and included the construction of a shopping center as well as "a multi-functional complex dedicated to sport" on All allowing "the creation of 3,500 jobs".

But the latest news is that disagreements, coupled with Italy's administrative slowness, are driving Rossoneri and Nerazzurri away from their historic district.

"We are looking outside Milan because we will choose the project as soon as possible," said Alessandro Antonello, Inter's managing director, last year. Now, we are in a hurry. The ambient inertia does not fit at all with the schedule of major works of the Cathedral, whose commissioning was already postponed last fall to the 2027-2028 season.

As a result of the races, the paths of Inter and AC Milan risk the fork for the first time in 70 years. The Rossoneri have views of the La Maura racecourse, a stone's throw from Giuseppe Meazza, where they plan to build their own stadium. In case of failure, sites on the side of Sesto San Giovani, in the northern suburbs, where San Donato, southern suburbs, are being studied. In this scenario, Inter Milan would also be ready to leave the Populous project, which is not sustainable for a single club anyway, and put their suitcases out of the city.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, an agreement in principle has been signed between the Nerazzurri for the construction of a complex in Assago-Rozzano, in the southwestern suburbs, although Inter's primary intention remains the sharing of a new San Siro with the rival. The soap opera becomes ridiculously complex, to the point of forcing Giuseppe Sala to regularly summon the representatives of the two clubs to take stock of their intentions.

What would become of the Giuseppe Meazza stadium if its two hosts left?

If abandoned by tenants, the stadium of the two Milans would remain standing, at the risk of turning into a white elephant. Unless the expression of interest of ASM Global, a company specializing in events and in charge of many stadiums around the world, materializes. Sportmediaset reported in autumn 2022 on a concrete offer to take over the San Siro stadium in its original form, in a letter addressed to the mayor.

"Our company is ready to discuss a solution that will result in not demolishing the structure, modernizing it without directly involving the Milan Council in the management of the establishment." A way to prove that the Giuseppe Meazza tool is not without cultural interest and that it is not limited to its two tenants, even if we would prefer to see them stay ad vitam eternam in the old San Siro. But in this telenovela, the happy ending seems not to exist.

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