Why do Inter and AC Milan share the San Siro Stadium?

AC Milan host city rivals Inter at San Siro in the Champions League semi-final second leg this evening (3pm ET) in what is a do-or-die game for both sides after the 2-0 first leg win for the nerazzurri. Manchester City played out a thrilling 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in the first semi-final last week and await Los Blancos at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow, but all eyes are now on Milan as the two sides go head to head once again (and AC Milan may just have Rafa Leão fit and firing).

Famously, two of Italy’s biggest clubs both share the stadium, officially called the Estadio Giuseppe Meazza, named after the death of the two-time World Cup winning footballer. It was opened in 1926 and is the country’s largest ground, holding up to 80,000 fans (who have their own unique way of sharing the seats), and was originally used by Milan. Inter’s original stadium was the Arena Civica, a small, 10,000 seater ground based on the design of the Coliseum. Opened in 1807, it was used by the club from 1930 and 1947.

Why do Inter and AC Milan share a stadium?

The shared stadium adds a unique twist on the Derby della Madonnina, which is unquestionably one of the biggest rivalries in world football. The first thing that may cause confusion regarding the strange arrangement is the name: why, if the official title is Giuseppe Meazza, do so many people call it San Siro? Well, it depends which side of the divide you stand on. The Inter fans prefer to use the more modern name in honour of their star player, while AC Milan fans go with the traditional name of the ground.

After their city rivals had had 21 years of being the sole user, Inter moved to San Siro as it was a more suitable venue for a big club, which remains the principal reason as to why the two teams share it to this day. Another huge factor in the relationship is the fact that sharing a venue means that costs are cut significantly when it comes to renovations or maintenance.

When we get to how things work in a physical sense, the way the two clubs have organised the venue make it a unique place in sport: for starters, the ground has three dressing rooms: one for AC Milan, one for Inter and one for away fans. And as you might expect, the two teams never play at home on the same day or in the same match week and

What are the differences for the home and away players?

As for the players, the tunnel is separated so that there are two exits, one for the home team and one for the away, and there are also separate entrances to the home team dressing rooms from the tunnel, so the two sides never have to cross paths on a match day.

Sharing a stadium may seem like a strange idea, but Inter and AC Milan are not the only Italian teams to do so: Roma and Lazio have both shared the Stadio Olimpico in Rome since 1953 and the Stadio Luigi Ferraris is shared by Genoa and Sampdoria.

What will happen to San Siro? Will it be demolished?

The sad news for football traditionalists is that the beautiful San Siro looks as though it is going to be demolished, with the Milan teams announcing that a new venue is to be built next to the current ground. It was supposed to be ready for this year, the 22/23 season, but Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, wanted it to be completed for when the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics arrive in the city. But I’m not complaining.

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