Luzhniki Stadium located in the Khamovniki District of the Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow city is the largest stadium of Russia. The word “Luzhniki’ translates into the meadows which are derived from the flood meadows in the bend of Moskva River on the banks of which the stadium is built. It is the biggest stadium in the eastern part of Europe. Presently it is the home-ground to the Russian national football team and this stadium is the home stadium to none of the clubs in Russia. It has the capacity of holding 81,000 people.
History
In the year 1954, the Russian government took an initiative to build the stadium. It was but in 1956 as the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium. The construction materials were brought from different countries in Europe. The stadium was built within a time span of 450 days and earlier it was expressed as the national stadium of the Soviet Union, but now its called the national stadium of Russia.
Major Matches
The Summer Olympics of 1980 were held in this stadium and at that time about 100,000 people turned out to witness the event. The stadium was a host to the opening and closing ceremony of the games, athletic events and the gold medal match of football.
The Luzhniki Stadium was selected to host the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final. Manchester United defeated Chelsea in the first all-English final in the history of tournament. The game ended in a 1-1 draw after the alloted time. The Red Devils won 6-5 on penalties.
The stadium is one of the venues to host the WC 2018. The Luzhniki stadium will be hosting five group stage matches, one Round of 16 matches, one semi-final and the final.
Controversy
During the 1982 UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem. Due to stampede, 66 people died in stampede caused due to the too much crow. The disaster earned a disgrace to the Russian sporting fraternity.
