MN: A beginning with an end – why the derby will be a ‘powerful bridge’ for San Siro

For the first time in 90 years, the Milan derby will be played at a San Siro that belongs equally to its two souls: AC Milan and Inter.

It is a historic transition, sealed by the signing of the deed on November 5th, which transformed the stadium from a monument shared with the City Council to a home owned by the clubs that have made it and continue to make it iconic.

As MilanNews writes, this a detail that weighs heavily also because every step, every shout and every goal becomes part of a story that has an ending: 2031, when the two clubs plan to move to a new home.

End of an era approaches

This derby isn’t just a beginning but paradoxically also the beginning of the end. On the horizon lies a new home, the joint project entrusted to Manica & Foster studios, a 71,500-seat stadium that should be completed (in theory) by 2031.

Images: Gazzetta dello Sport

It will be a modern, futuristic, cutting-edge structure, designed to propel the two Milanese teams into the future of European and world football. It will be a new, functional home, built to generate revenue and entertainment, but devoid of the emotional weight that only San Siro could accumulate.

This derby becomes a fragile yet ‘powerful bridge’ between what has been and what will be. On one side, the temple that has seen Rivera, the Maldinis, Baresis, Van Basten, Shevchenko and Kakà. On the other, the future of glass, steel and padded seats.

Playing the first derby in a club-owned San Siro is as if Milan and Inter can begin to take a moment to process its farewell. It’s a few years away yet, but the impending departure means that every derby memory made before 2031 will have even more meaning.