Italy-France: why San Siro, cathedral of football, is soon doomed to disappear

A huge page in Italian football, and more particularly in Milan, will be turned in the years to come. The clubs Inter Milan and AC Milan presented, on October 29, their new “Generali Stadium”, a cauldron with large concrete arches under a large white roof, which will have the tough mission of replacing the famous San Siro stadium from the 2031-2032 season. “It is lower in the middle and higher on the edges, for supporters of both teams on the corners,” British architect Norman Foster emphasized at a press conference in Milan.

Behind the concrete arches, the idea is to be as close as possible to the pitch, with stands particularly inclined in the turns, at 37 degrees, underlined David Manica, stadium specialist who worked on the project with Norman Foster. Sponsored by Italian insurance giant Generali, the stadium will be elevated, according to images shown at Sforza Castle, another symbol of Milan.

The acoustics were particularly worked on, the roof covering all the stands except the pitch and making the fury of the supporters resonate, according to David Manica. And “design is present in every detail”, to represent Milan, promised the architect.

In addition to football, the Generali Stadium will be able to host American football matches, rugby matches and concerts, underlined Mr. Manica. “I want the crowds to be as excited when they arrive as they were in the last one, to feel that this stadium is even more sincere,” he said. AC Milan and Inter have paid 197 million euros to buy the current stadium and adjacent parking lots where they plan to build their new stadium which they will continue to share.

The new San Siro project, with a capacity of 71,500 seats compared to 75,000 for the current one, will cost the two clubs 1.2 billion euros. Work is due to start in 2028. Norman Foster and David Manica have already worked together on London's Wembley Stadium.

In the meantime, it is in the current San Siro, the largest stadium in Italy with its 75,000 seats, often compared to a concrete cathedral, that the Nazionale will host Zinédine Zidane's French team this Thursday (8:45 p.m.). The Blues would qualify for the knockout stage of the Nations League in the event of victory. Zidane will return to a pitch where he fought some great battles in the Juventus jersey.

The French players from AC Milan (Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot) and Inter (Andy Diouf) will also have no shortage of landmarks in an enclosure inaugurated just one hundred years ago, in 1926, and renovated several times since.