RCDE Stadium

You do not see the pitch until you are inside; the exterior presents a solid wall of blue and grey vertical panels under a steel truss roof. It is a modern build, replacing an older site, and it has never quite fitted the city it belongs to. The architecture is boxy and functional, designed to hold forty thousand people, though safety rules have since trimmed that number to thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-six.

The name on the façade has changed more often than the players in the squad. It opened as Estadi Cornellà-El Prat in 2009, when RCD Espanyol beat Liverpool 3–0 in an exhibition. By 2016, it had settled on RCDE Stadium, a name that stuck until a renewed deal made it Stage Front Stadium for a single season. The club reverted to the original RCDE acronym the following year, and the letters remain as they were, indifferent to the commercial shifts.

Inside, the stands rise steeply, creating a bowl that is tight and enclosed. The natural grass is immaculate, bordered by advertising hoardings. The atmosphere is not one of grandeur; it is a working venue for a club that has spent more time in the second division than the top flight. The crowd roared them on during the visit from Liverpool, but that was an exhibition. The stadium has hosted international friendlies and concerts, including a performance by Robbie Williams, but it is primarily a place for the local team. It lacks the history of the old ground it replaced, and it lacks the intimacy of smaller grounds. It is a stadium that exists to be used, not to be remembered.