Estádio José Alvalade is a football stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal and is the home stadium of local club Sporting Clube de Portugal, one of the big clubs in the country. The stadium was built at a cost of $143.6 million and is a part of a complex called the “Alvalade XXI”.
It is one of the few stadiums in the world that has been classified by UEFA as a 5-star stadium. The complex is a huge area consisting of the stadium, a mall called “Alvaláxia” with a 12-screen movie theater, a health club, the club's museum, a sports pavilion, a clinic, and an office building.
The total cost of the complex is said to be around $192 million. The stadium has a seating capacity of 50,095.
History
The home stadium of Sporting was built in 2003 in a very short span of time. The stadium was meant to be Sporting very own fine stadium filled with all the facilities that a top club has.
The stadium opened for the match between Sporting and Manchester United, with the home team winning 3-1 on 6 August 2003. The stadium is very well constructed with a mixed colour seating pattern.
Major Matches
The stadium is used by the national team for their matches. Russia’s worst and biggest ever defeat came at this stadium against home team Portugal, who won by a margin on 7-1.
The stadium also witnessed Portugal’s first ever competitive win over Belgium and first ever competitive defeat against Denmark.
The stadium hosted matches of the UEFA Euro 2004 (three group stage matches, one quarterfinal and one semifinal), the home team beating Netherlands 2-1 in the semifinals at this venue.
The 2005 UEFA Cup Final was held here, a battle between Sporting and CSKA Moscow. Moscow won the match 3-1.
Controversies
The newly built stadium next to the old one is of a completely different style and there has not been any stirring controversies. Even though the matches against the remaining two of the “Big Three” can be quite intense, there hasn’t been much of a problem in the stadium’s years.
Recent Matches
Sporting CP have an impressive record at home, winning six out of eight matches, the remaining two being draws. They currently stand at second in the Primeira Liga table, tied with leaders Porto at 39 points. Their recent match was against União Madeira who they thumped 6-0 in front of their impressed fans.
