“The tool is magnificent and the atmosphere is great,” promises Philippe Montanier. Beyond the fact that they will face a team pumped up, undoubtedly even more aggressive than in the first leg, the Parisian players will come up against Anoeta this Tuesday (9 p.m.), in the round of 16 second leg of the League champions. A stadium well known to rugby fans elsewhere, inaugurated in 1993 to succeed the aging Atocha, and which could initially accommodate a little more than 32,000 spectators. The atmosphere was already warm and typical of the Basque Country. One problem, however: “In my time, there was still this athletics track which broke the atmosphere a little and took away the heat from an enclosure which did not lack it in the stands,” says Montanier, coach of the Real Sociedad between 2011 and 2013. Athletics track which disappeared during the facelift carried out between 2017 and 2019. An idea mentioned since the beginning of the 2000s but which was not officially adopted until 2015.
A decision in which Antoine Griezmann is not for nothing. “The money from his transfer was used in particular for that, concrete things, investments in stone and a certain evolution of the stadium. Today, Anoeta is a real football venue,” explains Philippe Montanier. Trained at Real, the French international striker moved to Atlético in 2014 for an amount estimated at €30 million. However, it is the club which financed the majority of the work for this enclosure which hosts concerts or rugby matches. UEFA also organized the “Final 8” of the Women’s Champions League there, in 2020, when the men, including PSG, finalist, played in Lisbon.
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“The club has evolved a lot since my visit, the stadium has been redone. In my time, there was an athletics track around the field, it’s always different in terms of atmosphere, remembers Lionel Potillon, who played for PSG (2001-03) and Real (2003-04). Today, there is no longer this track, the supporters are therefore closer to the pitch. And their support is all the more powerful for the Real Sociedad players. “There is a considerable attachment to the club, to the territory. I recently saw a statistic according to which 7% of the population of Gipuzkoa, the Basque region where San Sebastian is located, goes to the stadium. This is huge! They are very attached to the club. And as it is, in addition, a very sporting region, they are fully behind their team,” warns Potillon. “I went back there recently, and it’s not at all the same today, it’s much warmer than when I was there. PSG will discover a real cauldron,” promises Philippe Montanier.
Parisians have been warned. “It will undoubtedly be complicated because of the level of Real, the atmosphere, the coach… But we dream of living these moments,” slips Luis Enrique. It’s up to him to prevent the dream from turning into a nightmare.
