The Olympiastadion is a stadium located in the northern part of Munich in Germany. It was built as the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympic Games.
Olympiastadion Stadium Capacity
The stadium had an original capacity of 80,000 and currently, it stands at 69,250. The stadium served as the home ground of Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, until the construction of the Allianz Arena for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
History
The stadium was designed by German architect Gunther Behnisch and engineer Frei Otto.
It was eventually built by Bilfinger Berger between 1968 and 1972. The stadium was constructed inside a pit made by the World War II bombings which made the construction easier.
Major Matches
The stadium hosted five games during the 1974 FIFA World Cup including the 3rd/4th place match and the final. The final between The Netherlands and hosts, West Germany, is popularly heralded as one of the most classical finals of the tournament.
Rinus Michels’ Total Football playing Dutch side were the overwhelming favourites for the game. But the tables were turned by an inspired West Germany side with the home crowd egging them on as they beat the Oranje 2-1 with goals from Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller.
The 1979 European Cup Final was held between English side Nottingham Forest and Swedish club Malmo. Nottingham Forest won the final with the help of a solitary goal. It was the first of their consecutive European triumphs under legendary manager Brian Clough.
German giants Borussia Dortmund won their solitary UEFA Champions League at the Olympiastadion against Juventus in 1997. The Yellow and Blacks won the match 3-1 with Karl-Heinz Riedle scoring a brace and Lars Ricken scoring the other. Alessandro del Piero scored for the Old Lady.
Controversies
Tragedy struck the 1972 Olympic Games when eight terrorists from Palestine invaded the Olympic Games Village. Two members of the Israeli team were killed and nine others were held hostage as the terrorists bargained for the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners held at Israel.
All the hostages and a West German policeman were killed in a failed rescue attempt. The competition was stopped for a day and a memorial service was conducted at the stadium.
Recent Matches
In 2012, the stadium hosted the final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League between Lyon and 1.FFC Frankfurt. The match was witnessed 50,000 fans as Lyon retained the title they won twelve months back by a 2-0 margin.
The stadium is now mainly used for hosting musical concerts.
