Santiago Bernabeu

In the early parts of the 20th century, Real Madrid first played at Campo De O’Donnell, but then moved to the larger Campo de Chamartín in 1924.
In 1943, Chamartin had already become too small again, and club-president Santiago Bernabéu decided that Madrid needed a new and modern 100,000-stadium.
This new stadium got built at the same site of Campo de Chamartín. Construction began in 1945, and on the 14th of December 1947 Estadio Santiago Bernabéu officially opened with a match against Portuguese champions OS Belenenses (3-1).
The stadium was initially still called Nuevo Estadio Chamartin, but received the name of the club-president eight years later.
At that time, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu consisted of two uncovered tiers that could hold just over 75,000 spectators. Capacity was further increased to 125,000 in 1954, when one of the long sides got expanded with a third tier.
The Bernabéu was together with Camp Nou playing venue of the Euro 1964 Championships, hosting one of the two semi-finals and the final between Spain and the Soviet Union (2-1).
Towards the end of the 1970s, the stadium had already started to age, and at one time even plans were made to build a new stadium in the north of the city.
However, with the perspective of the 1982 World Cup it was instead decided to renovate the Bernabéu, which included the construction of a roof that covered the three two-tiered stands and the installation of seats in half of the stadium. As a result, capacity was reduced to 90,800 places.
During the 1986 World Cup, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu hosted three matches in the second group stage and the final between Italy and West Germany (3-1).
In the 1990s, UEFA required the stadium to become an all-seater, which would have reduced capacity to 50,000 seats. Club president Mendoza therefore started an extensive redevelopment program that included extending the third tier over the entire stadium, the creation of corporate facilities, and four access towers in each corner of the stadium. Works started in 1992 and were completed two years later.
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu got further refurbished an upgraded between 2001 and 2006. Works most of all focused on improving corporate facilities, and were concluded in 2006 with the construction of a roof over the one remaining uncovered stand.
In its history, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu has hosted four European Cup and Champions League finals. The first final was in 1957 between Real Madrid and Fiorentina (2-0), the second in 1969 between AC Milan and Ajax (4-1), the third in 1980 between Nottingham Forest and Hamburg (1-0), and the last one in 2010 between Internazionale and Bayern Munich (2-0).
Real Madrid recently presented plans to further upgrade the stadium with commercial and corporate facilities, and to increase capacity to over 90,000 seats. This will be done by renovating the stand facing the Paseo de la Castellana avenue. The club hopes to conclude the works in 2015.

Barcelona, the greatest Camp Nou

Camp Nou was built between 1954 and 1957, and officially opened on the 24th of September 1957 with a match between FC Barcelona and a selection of players from the city of Warsaw.

The stadium replaced Barcelona’s previous ground Camp de les Corts, which, though it could hold 60,000 supporters, was still too small for the growing number of fans. 

Camp Nou initially consisted of two tiers that could hold 93,000 spectators. It was first called Estadi del FC Barcelona, but got soon referred to as Camp Nou.
The stadium was, together with Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, playing venue of the Euro 1964 Championships. It hosted the semi-final between the Soviet Union and Denmark (3-0), and the match for third place between Hungary and the same Denmark (3-1).
The stadium hosted two Cup Winners’ Cup finals in the following decades, the first in 1972 between Rangers FC and Dynamo Moscow (3-2), and the second in 1980 between Barcelona and Standard de Liège (2-1).
Camp Nou got expanded with a third tier for the 1982 World Cup, which raised capacity to 120,000 places. During the World Cup, it hosted the opening match between Belgium and Argentina (1-0), three matches in the second group stage, and the semi-final between Italy and Poland (2-0).
In 1989, Camp Nou hosted the European Cup final between AC Milan and FC Steaua (4-0), which was followed in 1999 by the Champions League final between Manchester United and FC Bayern (2-1).
In the early 1990s, Barcelona started converting various standing areas into seating, which reduced capacity, though additional seats were created by lowering the pitch.
Until the late 1990s, Camp Nou still had some standing areas at the top of the third tier, but these were finally eliminated, reducing capacity to just below 100,000.
In contrast to the Bernabéu, Camp Nou has changed relatively little since its inauguration, and lacks many of the modern facilities common in most stadiums these days. For the last decade, Barcelona has therefore been investigating either redeveloping Camp Nou, or even building a completely new stadium.
In the mid 2000s, the club presented plans for a renovated Camp Nou, designed by Norman Foster, but a lack of funding prevented realisation. The club recently announced to be studying a move to a new stadium, but later decided to postpone any decision due to the insecure economical situation.