Riyadh Air Metropolitano: Football Stadium Guide for African Fans

Riyadh Air Metropolitano is Atlético Madrid’s football stadium in eastern Madrid, with capacity listed at about 70,800 in 2026. Its present name dates from October 2024, when a naming rights agreement added Riyadh Air to Metropolitano. For football and soccer followers across Africa, this is the ground behind several familiar names, including Wanda Metropolitano and La Peineta.

Think of those names like different landmarks used to describe the same Lagos junction: the route becomes easier once you recognise what everyone means. The useful questions are where to arrive and how to get away afterwards. The stadium’s story also reaches African football through Thomas Partey’s Atlético years.

What Is the Capacity of Riyadh Air Metropolitano?

The Metropolitano holds about 70,800 spectators according to its 2026 listing, placing it among La Liga’s larger grounds. Compare each capacity with its year. Capacity describes the ground’s listed size; the number of seats available for a particular fixture depends on the event configuration and ticket allocation.

The rebuilt stadium opened with 68,456 places in 2017, which explains some lower figures still attached to its older names. Later additions increased that total. When comparing stadiums, read the year beside each capacity, especially where rebuilding changes the comparison. For a visit, the stand, entrance and seat printed on your ticket are more useful than the headline number.

Who Plays at the Metropolitano?

Atlético Madrid men are the regular home side, while the women have used the Metropolitano for selected fixtures. Do not assume every women’s home match takes place here: check the venue on the individual listing. The women’s game against Barcelona drew 60,739 spectators on 17 March 2019, setting the women’s club football attendance record at the ground and giving the stadium another landmark occasion.

For Ghanaian readers, Partey provides a direct connection: his Atlético career included matches at the Metropolitano after its 2017 opening and before his departure in 2020.

How Do You Get to Riyadh Air Metropolitano?

Take Madrid Metro Line 7 to Estadio Metropolitano for the most direct rail approach. Las Musas, also on Line 7, provides another possible walk, while Las Rosas on Line 2 and Canillejas on Line 5 offer alternatives. Choose your station alongside your stadium entrance, rather than following the largest group automatically.

From Madrid Barajas airport, use the transport planner to check the route to the stadium. Use the airport terminal and Estadio Metropolitano as your start and destination in the transport planner. After football, expect queues at the nearest station. Follow staff directions, allow extra time, and consider walking to another station if its route suits your destination; Las Musas still feeds into Line 7.

Why Has the Stadium Had So Many Names?

The names reflect the original athletics ground, Madrid’s Olympic ambitions and successive commercial naming agreements. La Peineta means “the comb”, a nickname inspired by the shape of the original stand roof. Estadio de la Comunidad de Madrid and Estadio Olímpico de Madrid belong to that earlier identity.

Wanda Metropolitano was announced in 2016, before Atlético began playing there in 2017, followed by Cívitas Metropolitano in 2022. Riyadh Air Metropolitano became the name on 9 October 2024 under a nine year agreement with the Saudi airline.

How Did La Peineta Become Atlético’s Home?

The original stadium opened in September 1994 as an athletics venue designed by Cruz y Ortiz. It was built for Madrid’s bid to stage the 1997 World Athletics Championships, then became tied to the city’s Olympic plans. Closure followed in 2004, but the bids for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics did not succeed. Atlético announced its intended move to the site in September 2013.

The rebuilt ground opened on 16 September 2017, when Antoine Griezmann scored in Atlético’s one nil league victory over Málaga. Its defining international night followed on 1 June 2019: Liverpool beat Tottenham two nil in the Champions League final. That final is the clearest starting point for understanding the stadium’s European profile.

Which Major Finals Are Linked to the Metropolitano?

The stadium hosted the 2019 Champions League final. UEFA selected the Metropolitano in September 2025 to stage the 2027 Champions League final. Use the fixture listing for its confirmed date and kick off rather than planning travel around an assumed evening schedule.

Read tournament schedules separately from stadium profiles when deciding which city to visit. For African supporters travelling for a final, the practical distinction matters: a familiar stadium name gives you a location, while the event listing supplies the match and admission details.

How Do You Arrange Tickets or a Stadium Tour?

Start with Atlético’s official ticketing channels for home matches and its official visitor information for stadium tours. Check the event, venue, admission conditions and seat before completing a booking. A stadium tour and a match ticket are separate purchases unless the offer explicitly combines them. For concerts or finals, follow the organiser’s event instructions because the club’s ordinary home match arrangements may not apply.

For a tour, check which areas are included and whether preparations for football or another event affect access. On match day, leave enough time to find your entrance before joining a queue. Keep your return route available on your phone and agree a meeting point with companions. A crowded concourse is a difficult place to discover that everyone has chosen a different station.

Where Is It Compared With the Santiago Bernabéu?

The Metropolitano sits in eastern Madrid, with the Santiago Bernabéu a separate destination. They have different transport approaches, so accommodation described simply as convenient for Madrid football needs a closer look. Compare the actual journey to your event. When browsing other football stadiums, use neighbourhood and station information alongside capacity to judge how a visit would work.

How Can Fans Across Africa Follow Matches From Here?

For a Metropolitano fixture, readers in Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya can check the competition beside the displayed local start time. Coverage can vary between La Liga fixtures, cup ties and Champions League games, so consult the viewing information for your country. Confirm that the broadcast listing names the event you want before making plans to watch Atlético at home or in a viewing centre.

Match times for Metropolitano events translate into WAT for Nigerian viewers, EAT for audiences in Uganda and Kenya, SAST for South African supporters and GMT for those watching in Ghana. Seasonal clock changes in Madrid alter its time difference with these African countries. Read the Metropolitano fixture’s WAT, EAT, SAST and GMT entries together to avoid relying on an offset remembered from another date. Check that the venue is the Metropolitano and that you have selected the correct competition before using its listed start time.