Milan

Ground: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro)

Visits: 1

Date: 15 February 2009

Match: Inter - Milan 2-1 (Serie A)

Attendance: 76 178

When the stadium was built in the 1920s it was given the same name as the area in Milan it was buit in, San Siro. The inauguration was on 19 September 1926 when 35,000 spectators saw Inter Milan defeat AC Milan 6-3. Originally the ground was home and property of AC Milan. In 1947 Internazionale became tenants and the two have shared the ground ever since. Nowdays the capacity is 80,018 but when the ground had a third tier added in time for the 1990 World Cup the capacity was as high as 85,700. The official name of the ground is, since 1980, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, in honour of a great Italian player who played for both clubs in the 1930 and 40s. Most people still call the ground San Siro though. Inter against AC Milan at the San Siro is one of the most legendary fixtures in the footballing world. So many famous players in both teams, a cracking ground and a great atmosphere, what more can you wish for ? Some would answer "A good game of football" to that question. I can assure everyone, that criteria was fulfilled as well! This was one of the best matches I have ever seen live, loads of chances for both teams, great individual efforts and a pulsating drama. The game ended 2-1 to Inter. Milan had some great chances to equalise but Inzaghi was either offside (again!) or somehow managed to miss.

As we made our way back to the metro station there was a lot of Inter fans doing the Italian way of celebrating, waving flags (from their cars), honking and driving too fast. Once in the metro station everything went much more smoothly than expected and we were back at our hotel by 11.30. This was my first trip to Italy (for football) and I will for sure be back one day, I think there is a nice derby in Rome as well....

san siro, rear of west stand