San Siro, Anfield and European football's best atmospheres - ranked

Inter 'host' city rivals AC Milan in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, with another raucous atmosphere expected at San Siro. But which ground boasts the best atmosphere in European football?

It's a pretty subjective topic, obviously. Choosing between the continent's most intimidating venues certainly isn't easy. After all, what some stadiums lack in stature, they can make up for in noise. But there's no denying that some clubs boast that winning combination of deafening crowd noise and stunning choreography.

Below, GOAL attempts the difficult task of trying to rank the best atmospheres in Europe...

15 Waldstadion (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Eintracht Frankfurt's travelling fans have generated plenty of headlines in recent years, and not always for the right reasons. The way in which they managed to take over Camp Nou for last year's Europa League clash with Barcelona was mightily impressive, but the violent scenes we saw in Naples before this season's Champions League clash with Napoli were a disgrace.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that the atmosphere on matchdays at the Waldstadion is something special. Frankfurt's fans are also famous for some fantastic tifi.

14 Estadio Metropolitano (Atletico Madrid)

Atletico's old home the Vicente Calderon really was a cauldron of noise, and unlike some other clubs who have changed stadium, the Rojiblancos have managed to bring the noise of their dusty, earthy former ground to the shiny new Metropolitano. The ground, which Atletico moved into in 2017, has 68,000 seats and, unlike the Calderon, a roof to keep all the noise in.

Best of all, the stadium has its very own conductor in Diego Simeone, who is always there to remind every pair of lungs in the ground of their responsibility to keep the players motivated and intimidate the opposition.

13 Toumba Stadium (PAOK Salonica)

Aerial footage looked like it was showing a war-zone. It was in fact a fireworks display to celebrate PAOK Salonica's first title in 34 years. The Greek side have some of the most fervent fans in football, so they were always going to put on a show after ending their title drought in 2019, but this was off the scale.

Their fans have a penchant for pyrotechnics, and caused shocking scenes last season at Marseille, when both sets of ultras were seen throwing fireworks at each other. God help visiting teams who have the misfortune to play away there!

12 San Siro (AC Milan & Inter)

Let's face it, one of the main reasons the average football fan was so excited about the prospect of Milan meeting Inter in the Champions League semi-finals was the choreography. When it comes to tifi, the Derby della Madonnina is, and always has been, in a league of its own.

Down through the years, the game has inspired themes as diverse as Dante's Inferno and Nightmare on Elm Street. Last week's Devil display from Milan's supporters certainly didn't disappoint, and one can be sure that their Inter counterparts will have something just as spectacular in store for the second leg at San Siro.

The Giuseppe Meazza may be an ageing arena, but it is still known as 'La Scala del Calcio' for very good reason.

11 De Kuip (Feyenoord)

Feyenoord fans don't do things by halves. Ahead of their Eredivisie-clinching victory over Go Ahead Eagles on Sunday, they unveiled what is believed to be the biggest banner ever seen at a football ground. It's certainly difficult to think of another tifo that has covered almost an entire arena!

However, such a grand - and expensive - display of faith in their team (the banner read 'Feyenoord, Feyenoord, what are we going to to do today? We are going to win, but the question is by how much!') came as little surprise to Dutch football followers, given De Kuip is renowned as not only one of the most intimidating venues in Netherlands, but also all of Europe.

10 Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (Napoli)

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurenttis once infamously called the club's ground "a toilet". And you could understand why. The old San Paolo, which has since been renamed the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in honour of the Partenopei's greatest ever player, is a horribly outdated arena, a crumbling relic from a bygone era.

However, as this season has so thrillingly underlined, it is an absolute privilege to be present when Napoli's home ground is packed to the rafters with Italy's most passionate supporters.

9 Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan (Sevilla)

Seville is the most passionate city in Spain, and while Real Betis fans might disagree, the Sanchez Pizjuan has the most electric atmosphere in the country. As well as in the derby, Sevillistas really come into their element on European nights and it is little coincidence that every time Sevilla have got to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, they have gone on to win it.

With the starting gun of the club's epic anthem, Sevilla become transformed by the noise from their fans. Just look at their recent fixture with Manchester United when, despite being in relegation form and being outplayed at Old Trafford, they managed to blow the Red Devils away in the second leg.

8 Stadio Olimpico (Roma)

Say what you will about Jose Mourinho, but the man knows how to whip a fanbase into a frenzy. Since the arrival of of 'The Special One' at Roma, the Stadio Olimpico has once again become one of the most emotionally charged venues in world football.

The club's long-suffering supporters have been completely revitalised by a manager, and a team, that delivered a first European trophy last season. And when the club's anthem gets played before kick-off, even neutrals get chills down the back of their necks as 66,000 supporters sing in unison, "Roma, Roma, Roma!"

7 Stade Velodrome (Marseille)

There is simply no more intimidating venue in France than Marseille's Stade Velodrome. The iconic, 66,000-seater arena, which has been renovated several times over the years, has two curve - packed full of fans who call and answer one another during games.

The atmosphere is even better when bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain are in town, while European nights are also a thing of wild beauty because of all of the flares and fireworks, which often start going off outside OM's opponents' hotels the evening before games...

6 Marakana (Red Star Belgrade)

There was a time when the Rajko Mitic Stadium, or the Marakana as it is affectionately known, was one of the game's biggest venues - and one of the game's greatest sides.

However, after numerous renovations, the capacity has effectively been halved, to 53,000, while Red Star Belgrade no longer have the players, or the resources, to challenge for European Cups.

However, the Serbian club still boasts an outrageously passionate set of supporters and when they turn out in force, as they always do for the Eternal Derby against city rivals Partizan, they generate an atmosphere that is as tense as it is thrilling.

5 Vodafone Park (Besiktas)

Besiktas fans are so loud that Timo Werner once asked to be substituted in a game there as the noise was making him dizzy. The striker, then at RB Leipzig, even tried wearing earplugs to block out the cacophony, but it was no use.

The ground was built in April 2016, and just a month later Besiktas clinched the Turkish Super Lig title there, retaining the league the following season. The stadium sits on the banks of the Bosphorus and within a stone's throw of a palace. It is difficult to think of a more stunning location for a stadium, or a louder one. Just ask Werner's eardrums!

4 Anfield (Liverpool)

Chelsea in 2005 and 2007. Real Madrid in 2009. Borussia Dortmund in 2016. Barcelona in 2019. They were all great teams who went to Anfield in strong positions and they were all flattened by the wall of noise.

John Terry called his experience in 2005 "a nightmare", Thomas Tuchel described what happened to his Dortmund team, who were 3-1 up in the second half but lost 4-3. as "illogical". Barcelona had the worst experience of all, surrendering a 3-0 lead from the first leg by losing 4-0 against a Liverpool side missing Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. The fact that Liverpool even thought they had a chance speaks of the power of Anfield.

Pep Guardiola, whose Manchester City side lost 3-0 in the 2017-18 Champions League quarter-finals, put it best: "You feel small and the rival players seem to be all over you. It's a b*stard of a ground."

3 Nef Stadium (Galatasaray)

"Welcome to Hell!" - football fans of a certain vintage will never forget the banner which 'greeted' Manchester United's players when they arrived at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium for a Champions League game all the way back in 1993. And while Galatasaray are now playing in the Nef Stadium, their new home retains the same intimidating atmosphere.

Indeed, the club's famously fiery supporters even set a Guinness World Record for noise levels (131 decibels, to be precise) during a meeting with Schalke a decade ago!

2 Celtic Park (Celtic)

Lionel Messi once said that while he's been fortunate to have played in some incredible stadiums in Europe, "none compare to Celtic Park". Fellow living legends Paolo Maldini and Xavi say they've never experienced anything like it in all their years in football, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic revealed that the crowd was once so loud that he couldn't communicate with his team-mates.

Of course, things ramp up a notch when Celtic play Glasgow rivals Rangers, with the 'Old Firm' universally regarded as one of the game's greatest - and most hostile - derbies. To say it's politically charged would be a massive understatement, so it's definitely not one for the faint of heart, but when it comes to atmosphere, there are few more attractive fixtures in world football.

1 Westfalenstadion (Borussia Dortmund)

Former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp famously once said of Signal Iduna Park, "You come out and the stadium explodes: out of the darkness and into the light. You look to your left and it looks like 150,000 people are standing there, going crazy."

In reality, there are 'only' 25,000 people on the south stand, but it really does sound like six times that tally. 'The Yellow Wall', as it became known in 2005, is also one of the most spectacular sights in football, responsible for some spectacular tifi of the 21st century.