Athletic will exercise twice this week in San Mamés to regain feeling with their lair. Preparing their match on Sunday the 14th against Atlético Madrid in the restart of the League. The last home game was on March 1 against Villarreal, with a 1-0 victory with a goal from Raúl García penalty.
Although this lap will have nothing to do with that collision with the yellow submarine. For the unknown about the state of the players after the break due to the coronavirus. And because it will be played behind closed doors. With the empty stands. And the lions will be the ones who miss their fans the most.
Apart from that recent debate about animation in San Mamés, from outside it seems that the atmosphere of the Bilbao stadium is held in high esteem. So much so that the prestigious magazine France Football considers it to be the most passionate in the Spanish League. And in a world ranking that they have drawn up, it is in ninth place. In the top 1, the Bombonera de Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires.
“How to establish the thirty best stadiums? Also, what is a hot stadium? It is a place where one feels a thousand emotions, between the pleasure of being there, among others, and the fear of this passionate and therefore excessive crowd, between aggressive noise and unifying songs, etc. The problem is that there is no instrument to measure emotions. France Football selected thirty, classified them … and necessarily accommodated them arbitrarily and unfairly, “explains the French publication.
These are, in order, those that occupy the first ten positions of this classification. Bombonera (Boca), Anfield (Liverpool), Signal Iduna Park (Borussia Dortmund), Stade Rajko-Mitic (Red Star Belgrade), Celtic Park (Celtic), Monumental River Plate, Vodafone Park Besiktas, Stade Karaiskakis Olympiakos, San Mamés and Maracana (Flamengo and Fluminense).
“Finding Boca Juniors and their Bombonera, Liverpool and Anfield or Dortmund and their yellow wall on the podium, will not surprise anyone, since attending a game in these legendary places is an unforgettable experience,” launched from France Football.
Stadiums such as the Santiago Bernabéu, Camp Nou or Wanda Metropolitano are out of the list of the 30 most vibrant stadiums in the world, according to this list. Nor are there other mythical ones such as, for example, Old Trafford.
“We have deliberately ignored some of the best, where the quality of the stands is not up to the field, such as Real Madrid or Barcelona. Or United and Arsenal, who now have a more 'well-off' audience. Or Atlético Madrid, West Ham and Tottenham who lost their excitement when moving. We decided to also respect the geographical balance, otherwise, how many Argentine, Uruguayan, Turkish or Greek clubs would have deserved to sneak into this ranking? ”They justify.
Other acquaintances do appear, but in more backward positions. Like the San Paolo del Napoli (13th), the Velodrome of Marseille (14th), the Saint James Park of Newcastle (22nd) or the Olympic in Rome (23rd).