The story of San Mames in the Europa League final stadium - every captain will offer him a bouquet of flowers!

Manchester United and Tottenham fans will cheer for their heroes in an iconic European stadium known as the "Football Cathedral" early tonight - because the winner will qualify for the Champions League next season.

Both teams hope to have a shame and poor performance in the Premier League season in this Europa League final. For Tottenham, this is an important championship trophy that has been missing since 2008; for Manchester United, it is almost a "shortcut" for them to return to the Champions League.

However, more attractive than the game itself is the story of the stadium that will hold the finals.

Saint Mames' fate intertwined

Manchester United defeated Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals, preventing their opponent from dreaming of ushering in the finals at their own stadium.

UEFA originally planned to allow San Mames Stadium to host four European Cup games in 2020, including three in the Spanish group stage. However, due to the severe epidemic in the Basque Country at that time, the stadium was replaced and replaced by the Rakatuja Stadium in Seville.

As compensation, UEFA arranged this year's UEFA Cup final and last year's women's Champions League final in San Mames. The new stadium is built next to the old Saint Mames Stadium, which is the new home stadium of Athletic Bilbao. It was officially opened in 2013, replacing the old stadium of the same name. The old stadium happened to be opened 100 years ago.

The exterior wall of this venue, which can accommodate 53,000 spectators, is equipped with color-changing LED lighting, and the visual effect is similar to the Allianz Stadium in Bayern Munich.

What is even more touching is that when the club was building a new stadium, it deliberately brought a piece of brick and a piece of turf from the old venue. But this process is not simply completed by construction workers, but a chain of people composed of club legendary players, female football players, youth training players, the oldest and youngest fans, etc., jointly pass the bricks from the old stadium to the new stadium to show inheritance. The name "St. Mames" comes from a third-century Christian martyr named St. Mamen. He was born when his parents were imprisoned, and the two were executed for their faith, leaving him to become orphans. Mamen himself was also persecuted for his faith. He was thrown into a group of lions but miraculously escaped and was eventually stabbed and killed by a spear. There is a small chapel next to the stadium that is dedicated to Saint Marmen, so the stadium is named "Football Cathedral", and Athletic Bilbao is also called the "Lion Legion". The captain of

continues the tradition of 98

This historic club still retains a tradition of great respect: for almost a hundred years, all captains in San Mames will lay flowers to the statue of Pichichi, the legendary club star Pichichi before the game.

Picchichi is a great scorer in the early last century and died suddenly from typhoid at the age of 29. The tradition of flower offering began when the Hungarian team MTK Budapest first came to the game in 1927. The statue was originally located at the entrance of the old stadium and is now placed next to the player's passage in the new stadium.

As Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandez has visited San Mames many times before, he will not lay flowers again; but Tottenham Captain Son Heung-min will follow this tradition, after all, this is Tottenham's first visit.

San Mames is not just football

2019, the 13th stage of the "Spanish Tour of Spain" will start from here. The riders will ride around the field and warm up before officially setting off. Three of the riders also took photos and paid tribute in Bilbao's red and white jerseys.

In addition, the stadium also witnessed a historical breakthrough in the number of spectators:

On April 17, 2024, the Europa League quarter-finals against Glasgow Rangers, attracting 52,114 fans, setting a record for the highest attendance in football;

But the real record belongs to the 2018 Rugby European Champions League final, Reinster vs. Racing 92's competition attracted 52,282 spectators, the most "full" moment in St. Mames' history.