Football is now the most popular sports game in the world, where football players show all the best results, and fans become more and more ardent fans of this sport. Of course, each person supports the club of his city or country, but, perhaps, there is not a single fan who would not admire the magnificent game of “Barcelona” or “Real”. It is these 2 teams that collect a record number of spectators at TV screens and, naturally, in the stands of stadiums.
Now we will talk about the famous home arena of Real Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, whose photo you will see below. It is recognized as one of the most comfortable and safe stadiums for fans in the world. An interesting fact: according to many opinion polls, thousands of tourists visiting Madrid on a business visit immediately seek to see the famous stadium, and only then the rest of the sights.
Total information
| Country of location | Spain |
| Town | Madrid |
| Club | "Real Madrid" |
| Full title | Estadio santiago bernabeu |
| Original title | "Nuevo Chamartin" |
Total capacity
| 80354 people |
Number of tiers
| 5 |
Field dimensions
| 105 x 68 m |
Year of construction
| 1947 |
| UEFA Stadium Category | 4 |
Santiago Bernabeu
To begin with, you just need to mention the name of the person who made this football arena appear, and Real Madrid became the Royal Club. We think it will not be difficult for anyone to guess that his name is Santiago Bernabeu - the football player of the club Real Madrid and his future president. Surprisingly, it was Bernabeu who was the record holder for the number of goals scored, and not the famous Pele, because he “threw” 1250 (!) Goals into the rival goal, although the exact number cannot be given for the reason that the goals were scored in those years (early XX century) ) no one was engaged, and the players scored not so much for the money, but for the glory of the club.
For his life (1895-1978) Santiago Bernabeu became one of the
best football players in the world, took part in the war, where he received a medal, managed to restore the team and rebuild the stadium. Today he is a true legend of Spain!
The history of the construction of the stadium
Until 1940, Real Madrid hosted their guests at the Chamartin Stadium, but there was a catastrophic lack of space for an ever-growing crowd of fans, so Santiago Bernabeu and Rafael Salgado began to seriously think about building a new stadium that would meet the level of the club. After receiving a loan in June 1944, construction began on a new football arena, over which the famous architects Luis Soler and Manuel Monasterio worked. It was possible to complete the construction in 3 years: on December 14, 1947, celebrating this event with a football match between Real Madrid and the Portuguese Belenenses. Further, the stadium was reconstructed more than once, which allowed to increase its capacity, as well as to make it more comfortable for visitors. Artificial lighting was first implemented in 1957. However, the most worthwhile improvements were realized only in the 2000s, when Florentino Perez became president of the club. He immediately invested $ 130 million in the stadium, thanks to which the facade of the eastern stand appeared, as well as numerous offices and convenient places for journalists. During these years, the capacity of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium was 80,354. This fact puts him on a par with the world-famous stadiums “Maracana”, “Camp Nou”, “Wembley”, “Signal Iduna Park” and others. In 2007, the stadium “Santiago Bernabeu” received the title of “elite stadium” from UEFA.
Highlights
Having the highest category of UEFA, the stadium hosts matches of the most prestigious football competitions. So, “Santiago Bernabeu” 4 times hosted the Champions League final (in 1957 - “Real” - “Fiorentina”, in 1969 - “Milan” - “Ajax”, in 1980 - “Nottingham Forest” - “ Hamburg ”, in 2010 -“ Bavaria ”-“ Inter ”), 1 time European Championship (in 1964 - Spain — USSR), 1 time World Championship (in 1982 - Italy — Germany) and, finally, 2 times the UEFA Cup Championship (in 1985 - “Real” - “Videoton”, in 1986 - “Real” - “Cologne”). The match between Real Madrid and Dynamo Zagreb took place on November 22, 2011, which became the 1500th game played at this stadium.
Santiago Bernabeu Cup
Since 1979, friendly football matches have been held annually in honor of Santiago Bernabeu de Este, president of Real Madrid (1943-1978), as well as one of the best players in the history of the club. As a rule, a tournament is held at the beginning of the season (in August-September). The tournament was won 24 times by Real Madrid, 3 times by Bayern, 2 times by Milan and Inter, and once by Ajax, Hamburg, Dynamo Kyiv and UNAM Pumas.
Infrastructure
As we mentioned earlier, Santiago Bernabeu is one of the most prestigious stadiums in Europe, and therefore the owners pay a lot of attention to its infrastructure. So, the stadium is equipped with many minibars, cafes, fast food outlets and the like. To increase the comfort of visitors, 680 televisions are installed in the bars, on which they can watch the match of their favorite team. In addition, in 2006 one of the world's largest sports stores was opened, where you can purchase anything you want. Everyone can also visit the museum, which reveals the entire history of the Royal Club.
They don’t forget about VIP clients, who have 3 chic restaurants at their disposal, where they can easily relax while sipping cocktails, listening to pleasant music and, of course, tasting various dishes from around the world. It is worth noting that in addition to football matches, Santiago Bernabeu also hosts many other events, including music concerts, various celebrations, and the like. For the year, the stadium brings 120 million euros of profit, which is a very impressive figure. Today, there are also rumors that the club’s president,
Florentino Perez, has decided to create the entire Real Madrid City complex, which will house shopping centers, restaurants and a reconstructed arena that can accommodate 120,000 visitors.