San Siro From Italy

Stadio San Siro was a project of AC Milan president Piero Pirelli. In the first two decades of the 20th century, Milan had already occupied various grounds and by the early 1920s played at a ground at the Viale Lombardia.
Though a perfectly fine ground, it soon turned out to be too small for the club’s growing number of fans, and therefore architect Stacchini, also responsible for Milan’s central station, was hired to design a complete new stadium.
Stadio San Siro officially opened on the 19th of September 1926 with a friendly between Milan and Inter (3-6). The stadium initially consisted of four separate stands and could hold 35,000 spectators.
San Siro was first owned by AC Milan, but was sold to the city of Milan in 1935, who were soon forced too enlarge the stadium due to the club’s increasing popularity.
Plans were made for a massive stadium for 150,000 spectators, but were in the end significantly scaled down. The redeveloped San Siro opened in 1939, and consisted of one fully enclosed tier.
Until 1945, Milan had been the sole occupant of San Siro, but were then joined by Inter, who had before played at the Arena Civica.
San Siro got further expanded in 1955 when a second tier got built on top of the first one, which resulted in a capacity of about 85,000 places.
In the following decades, San Siro hosted two European Cup finals, the first in 1965 between Inter and Benfica (1-0), and the second in 1970 between Feyenoord and Celtic (2-1).
The stadium had earlier gotten ignored as a playing venue for Euro 1968, but did get selected as a venue for Euro 1980. At the same time it got officially renamed Stadio Guiseppe Meazza, in honour of the ex-player of Inter as well as AC Milan.
During the 1980 European championships, San Siro hosted three first round group matches.
Soon after, Italy got awarded the 1990 World Cup, and it became clear that a major upgrade was needed. For a moment, the option of building a new stadium was contemplated, but the architects Giancarlo Ragazzi, Enrico Hoffer, and Leo Finzi instead chose for an ambitious redevelopment plan.
Works included the construction of a third tier, a roof that would cover all seats, and eleven cylindrical concrete towers around the stadium to support the extra tier and roof structure. The resulting capacity was 85,700 seats.
During the World Cup, San Siro hosted the opening match between Argentina and Cameroon (0-1), three further group matches, a round of 16 match, and the quarter-final between Germany FR and Czechoslovakia (1-0).
The stadium got further refurbished in later years, and capacity reduced slightly due to UEFA safety requirements. In 2001, it hosted the Champions League final between FC Bayern and Valencia (1-1).
In early 2012, Inter announced the intention to build a new club-owned stadium, which they hope to move into in 2016. Further details are expected later in 2012. AC Milan is likely to stay at San Siro.

Olimpico, The Empire Gladiator of Rome

Stadio Olimpico was built to serve as the centrepiece of the Foro Italia sports complex, a project initiated by the fascist regime of Mussolini.
Construction started in 1928 and a first tier had been finished in 1932. Works on the second tier were halted though due to the outbreak of the Second World War and were only resumed in December 1950.
Stadio Olimpico officially opened on the 17th of May 1953 with a match between the national teams of Italy and Hungary. Capacity amounted to 100,000 at that time, which constituted mainly of terraces.
Stadio Olimpico served as the centrepiece stadium for the 1960 Olympics, and for this all terraces got converted into seats, resulting in a capacity of 53,000 seats. During the Games, the stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics competitions.
Eight years later, Stadio Olimpico was the principal venue of the Euro 1968 Championships, during which it hosted the match for third place and the final between Italy and Yugoslavia (2-0 after a replay)
Stadio Olimpico remained largely unchanged until it again was the playing venue of a European Championships, this time the tournament in 1980. It hosted three group matches and the final between West-Germany and Belgium (2-1).
In those years, it hosted twice a European Cup final, the first in 1977 between Liverpool and Borussia Mönchengladbach (3-1) and the second in 1984 between again Liverpool and AS Roma (1-1).
When Italy got awarded the 1990 World Cup, it was clear that the stadium needed a massive renovation. While initial plans aimed only to refurbish the stadium, a few redesigns later an almost complete new stadium had been built. The stands were now much closer to the pitch and the stadium had been equipped with a roof. This resulted in a capacity of 74,000 seats.
During the World Cup, Stadio Olimpico hosted all three of Italy’s group matches, Italy’s round of 16 match and quarter-final, and the final between Germany FR and Argentina (1-0).
In later years, the stadium hosted two more Champions League finals, the first in 1996 between Juventus and Ajax (1-1) and the second in 2009 between Barcelona and Manchester United (2-0).
Stadio Olimpico underwent a last refurbishment in 2007 to keep it eligible to host future Champions League finals. This included, among others, the replacement of all seats.
Both AS Roma and Lazio have at times expressed unease at playing in the too-large CONI-owned stadium. In the mid 2000s, Lazio had plans to move to a new stadium, but these came to nothing.
AS Roma currently has concrete plans to build a new stadium and is expected to reveal further details in the second half of 2012. They hope to open their new stadium in 2015 or 2016.