Has anybody entered?

Crea la tua Magic squadra acquistando, con il budget di 250 millioni,

3 PORTIERI
8 DIFENSORI
8 CENTROCAMPISTI
6 ATTACCANTI

Merseyman, have you entered?

For those in England, the Gazzetta.it site might have listings, otherwise you can see the full list inside the paper.

I spent a whole day last week sitting in a bar and working on my Squadra, there are some great bargains i.e. Pizarro 13 million!

Pirlo wrote:Has anybody entered?

Crea la tua Magic squadra acquistando, con il budget di 250 millioni,

3 PORTIERI
8 DIFENSORI
8 CENTROCAMPISTI
6 ATTACCANTI

Merseyman, have you entered?

No offence, Pirlo... but I just don't have the time these days. I'm not even particularly curious about these sort of games; several guys in my office participate in a similar one, but the bug hasn't caught me.

I guess I'm an old fogie who still prefers to follow football at the stadium (all too rarely...) or on TV.

merseyman wrote:

Pirlo wrote:Has anybody entered?

Crea la tua Magic squadra acquistando, con il budget di 250 millioni,

3 PORTIERI
8 DIFENSORI
8 CENTROCAMPISTI
6 ATTACCANTI

Merseyman, have you entered?

No offence, Pirlo... but I just don't have the time these days. I'm not even particularly curious about these sort of games; several guys in my office participate in a similar one, but the bug hasn't caught me.

I guess I'm an old fogie who still prefers to follow football at the stadium (all too rarely...) or on TV.

No worries friend, what stadia have you been to in Italy?

I have been to San Siro, Stadio Olimpico, Mario Rigamonti, Atleti Azzurri, Delle Alpi, Renzo Barbera and Bentegodi.

Of those obviously i say that my favorite is San Siro because i have so many great memories of sitting near the Curva and the great moments that i have seen with my grandfather, but the most hostile and atmospheric stadium is without doubt the Bentegodi, it was frightening.

Delle Alpi looks fantastic from outside, but it is pure shit to watch football in and there is ZERO atmosphere.

Palermo's stadium is nice because it's out of the city and there is some 'aura' about the hillside that flanks it, it is beautiful and atmospheric - but for different reasons, there is just 'something' about the Sicillians

One thing i will happily and with some envy conceed to England is that their Stadia are fantastic, much better than ours, i am ashamed of the majority of our stadia, they are hostile fortresses, old, filthy, concrete monuments - they belong in the past- even San Siro. San Siro, a temple for football but depending on where you sit depends on your experience here. Our pitch is a disgrace, but because of the size and structure it is difficult to get the sun to shine in. We have much to learn from EPL and even some Division 1 clubs in England about the Stadiums. I went to Highbury in January and it was simply fantastic, beautiful pitch, clean etc - a more 'pleasant' viewing experience in terms of crowd hostility.

Pirlo wrote:
No worries friend, what stadia have you been to in Italy?

I have been to San Siro, Stadio Olimpico, Mario Rigamonti, Atleti Azzurri, Delle Alpi, Renzo Barbera and Bentegodi.

Of those obviously i say that my favorite is San Siro because i have so many great memories of sitting near the Curva and the great moments that i have seen with my grandfather, but the most hostile and atmospheric stadium is without doubt the Bentegodi, it was frightening.

Delle Alpi looks fantastic from outside, but it is pure shit to watch football in and there is ZERO atmosphere.

Palermo's stadium is nice because it's out of the city and there is some 'aura' about the hillside that flanks it, it is beautiful and atmospheric - but for different reasons, there is just 'something' about the Sicillians

One thing i will happily and with some envy conceed to England is that their Stadia are fantastic, much better than ours, i am ashamed of the majority of our stadia, they are hostile fortresses, old, filthy, concrete monuments - they belong in the past- even San Siro. San Siro, a temple for football but depending on where you sit depends on your experience here. Our pitch is a disgrace, but because of the size and structure it is difficult to get the sun to shine in. We have much to learn from EPL and even some Division 1 clubs in England about the Stadiums. I went to Highbury in January and it was simply fantastic, beautiful pitch, clean etc - a more 'pleasant' viewing experience in terms of crowd hostility.

Offhand, I can only think of four that I've visited: San Siro (I lived 800 yards from the ground till I got married!), Delle Alpi (I agree... it's a pretty soulless place to watch football), the "Renato dell'Ara" stadium at Bologna (pretty good), and Atalanta's stadium (can't remember the name).

Most of the matches I saw in England were at Brighton's old Goldstone Ground (fond memories!), although I did get to Stamford Bridge, White Hart Lane and Highbury while studying in London.

Hard for me to make comparisons really... they're just so different. The first thing that struck me at San Siro was how much quieter it was. The tradition of singing/chanting is not so deeply radicated in Italy (and disappears altogether when your team is losing ). The old structures of British stadia probably helped reverberation anyway! On the other hand, there's a lot more visual participation in Italy (flags, banners, flares, etc.) as opposed to scarves (and rosettes, when I wuz a lad!).

merseyman wrote:

Pirlo wrote:
No worries friend, what stadia have you been to in Italy?

I have been to San Siro, Stadio Olimpico, Mario Rigamonti, Atleti Azzurri, Delle Alpi, Renzo Barbera and Bentegodi.

Of those obviously i say that my favorite is San Siro because i have so many great memories of sitting near the Curva and the great moments that i have seen with my grandfather, but the most hostile and atmospheric stadium is without doubt the Bentegodi, it was frightening.

Delle Alpi looks fantastic from outside, but it is pure shit to watch football in and there is ZERO atmosphere.

Palermo's stadium is nice because it's out of the city and there is some 'aura' about the hillside that flanks it, it is beautiful and atmospheric - but for different reasons, there is just 'something' about the Sicillians

One thing i will happily and with some envy conceed to England is that their Stadia are fantastic, much better than ours, i am ashamed of the majority of our stadia, they are hostile fortresses, old, filthy, concrete monuments - they belong in the past- even San Siro. San Siro, a temple for football but depending on where you sit depends on your experience here. Our pitch is a disgrace, but because of the size and structure it is difficult to get the sun to shine in. We have much to learn from EPL and even some Division 1 clubs in England about the Stadiums. I went to Highbury in January and it was simply fantastic, beautiful pitch, clean etc - a more 'pleasant' viewing experience in terms of crowd hostility.

Offhand, I can only think of four that I've visited: San Siro (I lived 800 yards from the ground till I got married!), Delle Alpi (I agree... it's a pretty soulless place to watch football), the "Renato dell'Ara" stadium at Bologna (pretty good), and Atalanta's stadium (can't remember the name).

Most of the matches I saw in England were at Brighton's old Goldstone Ground (fond memories!), although I did get to Stamford Bridge, White Hart Lane and Highbury while studying in London.

Hard for me to make comparisons really... they're just so different. The first thing that struck me at San Siro was how much quieter it was. The tradition of singing/chanting is not so deeply radicated in Italy (and disappears altogether when your team is losing ). The old structures of British stadia probably helped reverberation anyway! On the other hand, there's a lot more visual participation in Italy (flags, banners, flares, etc.) as opposed to scarves (and rosettes, when I wuz a lad!).

If you don't sit in and near the Curva and the Ultras then the stadiums are so quiet, if the team is losing, then all you hear are abuse.
The racism is particularly disturbing, and we would be fools and naiive to say that it does not go on in still in Italy, particularly in the Curva, yet the Ultras are never dealt with by the club or the police, indeed the Ultras are rarely 'seriously' searched or have weapons confiscated, the police and stewards turn a blind eye to them, they hold too much power.

I havn't been to Bologna or Atalanta, i didn't realise you lived so close to the ground! You must have had so many problems on matchdays with the supporters, noise etc! Maybe i'll walk past your house in a couple of weeks!!!

The choreography of the supporters in Italy is incredible, the Leaders are fascinating to watch, the whole visual aspect of the supporters though is (and i expect, intended) to be very unsettling for you when you are an away supporter!

Will you get to any matches this season do you expect?

Pirlo wrote:
If you don't sit in and near the Curva and the Ultras then the stadiums are so quiet, if the team is losing, then all you hear are abuse.
The racism is particularly disturbing, and we would be fools and naiive to say that it does not go on in still in Italy, particularly in the Curva, yet the Ultras are never dealt with by the club or the police, indeed the Ultras are rarely 'seriously' searched or have weapons confiscated, the police and stewards turn a blind eye to them, they hold too much power.

I havn't been to Bologna or Atalanta, i didn't realise you lived so close to the ground! You must have had so many problems on matchdays with the supporters, noise etc! Maybe i'll walk past your house in a couple of weeks!!!

The choreography of the supporters in Italy is incredible, the Leaders are fascinating to watch, the whole visual aspect of the supporters though is (and i expect, intended) to be very unsettling for you when you are an away supporter!

Will you get to any matches this season do you expect?

Highly unlikely, Pirlo. What with working, being a family man, playing in a band, and keeping fit (I do a lot of long-distance running), I'm rarely to be seen in a football stadium these days.

Last match I saw at San Siro was Inter 1 Man Utd 1 (1999). Go figure!

Incidentally, I only lived near San Siro (Via Cremosano) till I got married, way back in '89. Since then, I've been living at Cologno Monzese (north-east suburbs).

@ Mersey,

I don't envy you living so close to the stadium, i think the nearest tube is Lotto and the road we go down is the via Diomede which pretty much surrounds the ground, i think your street is near there, you go down via Alcamo which brings you out near Stadio San Siro?

Was this a main factor in why you decided to move - i mean your proximity to the stadium and all the noise/crowds/hassle?

Pirlo wrote:@ Mersey,

I don't envy you living so close to the stadium, i think the nearest tube is Lotto and the road we go down is the via Diomede which pretty much surrounds the ground, i think your street is near there, you go down via Alcamo which brings you out near Stadio San Siro?

Was this a main factor in why you decided to move - i mean your proximity to the stadium and all the noise/crowds/hassle?

Not at all! Quite honestly, my road was very quiet. Even on match days, it was just one of the many routes you could take to the stadium. Fact is, my (now) wife was living at Vimodrone (north-east outskirts of Milan) and we had the opportunity of buying a house near there. House prices in the San Siro area and in the centre of Milan were (and still are!) beyond the means of most young couples.

Yep, Lotto is the closest tube station. And then you can savour the atmosphere with that nice walk down the curving Via Diomede till you reach the stadium. I suppose I'll have to get along to another game there sooner or later!