San Siro remains one of European football’s most enduring weekly rituals. Milan and Inter have turned the shared stadium into a constant gathering point, placing second and third among the continent’s clubs for domestic-league attendance. In a Serie A season that has held broadly steady rather than grown, the two Milanese sides have supplied a powerful reminder that the championship’s biggest afternoons still carry considerable weight.
San Siro’s two-club draw
Manchester United led Europe’s domestic-league attendance rankings with 1.405 million spectators at Old Trafford. Milan followed closely on 1.394 million, with Inter third on 1.387 million. Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich came next.
The figures underline the unusual force of a stadium used by two major clubs: San Siro is filled for one home programme in black and blue, then again for another in red and black. Milan operated at 97% of capacity across league fixtures, while Inter reached 96%.
- Manchester United: 1.405 million league spectators.
- Milan: 1.394 million, second in Europe.
- Inter: 1.387 million, third.
- Borussia Dortmund: 1.383 million.
- Real Madrid: 1.359 million.
- Bayern Munich: 1.275 million.
- Roma: 1.174 million, eighth in the club ranking.
There is an important qualification around the German clubs. Bundesliga teams play 17 home league matches rather than the 19 staged in Italy, England and Spain. On a per-match basis, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern would occupy the first two positions.
Only Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and West Ham recorded full capacity across their league calendars. Roma’s average occupancy was 87%, a strong return that placed the capital club among the leading Italian draws.
Serie A holds its place in Europe
Italian top-flight football attracted 11.4 million spectators in 2025-26, a decline of 2% on the previous campaign. That left Serie A fourth among Europe’s major top divisions, although England’s Championship again exceeded it with 12.2 million attendees.
The overall picture is not one of declining interest in live football. Across men’s and women’s professional competitions, national-team matches, top divisions and lower leagues, European stadiums welcomed 242 million spectators. First divisions accounted for 116 million of that total, close to half, while professional lower tiers contributed a further 82 million.
- The Premier League led the major top divisions with 15.8 million spectators, up 3%.
- The Bundesliga drew 13 million, a 10% increase.
- La Liga reached 11.8 million, up 3%.
- Serie A recorded 11.4 million, down 2%.
- England’s Championship drew 12.2 million.
- Germany’s second division reached 8.7 million, ahead of France’s top flight on 8.4 million.
Measured by average attendance per club, the Bundesliga led with 42,300, followed by the Premier League on 41,600. La Liga averaged 30,900 and Serie A 30,100, ahead of France’s 27,500 and the Netherlands’ 20,000.
Italy’s lower professional divisions offered a more encouraging counterpoint to Serie A’s slight fall. They brought in 9.3 million spectators, an 11% increase, placing the country third in that part of the European landscape. England’s professional lower leagues remained in a class of their own, passing 26 million.
Europe’s full-season attendance table
When domestic cups and European competition are added, Real Madrid move to the top of the club standings with 1.891 million spectators. More than half a million of that total came from Champions League matches.
Inter finished third in the all-competitions ranking on 1.866 million, behind Borussia Dortmund and ahead of Bayern Munich. The margins were remarkably narrow: Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion admitted just 59 more spectators than Inter’s San Siro programme, while Bayern trailed the Nerazzurri by 930.
- Real Madrid: 1.891 million spectators across all competitions.
- Borussia Dortmund: ahead of Inter by 59 spectators.
- Inter: 1.866 million, third overall.
- Bayern Munich: 930 below Inter.
- Liverpool: 1.746 million, fifth.
- Roma: 1.539 million, just outside the top ten.
- Milan: 1.519 million, 12th despite having no cup fixtures.
Milan’s absence from cup competition shaped their position in the combined table. With additional domestic or European dates, the Rossoneri would have had a realistic route into the top five. Instead, the season’s attendance story belongs above all to the stadium they share with Inter: a ground still capable of making the Italian calendar feel busy, consequential and loudly alive every week.
