It is one of the cathedrals of modern football.

For the thousands of Saints fans making the trip to Milan, their visit to the San Siro is almost something of a pilgrimage, writes Adam Leitch in Italy.

Part homage to the journey their club has been on to get to this point, part chance to see a match in such famous surroundings.

The San Siro has stood for more than 90 years, though clearly plenty of upgrades and renovations have taken place in that time.

What immediately strikes you from the outside as you leave the stadium’s dedicated metro station is that the San Siro does not seem particularly awe inspiring for anything other than its sheer size.

It looks rather cold and nondescript, certainly showing little indication of the history that has been written inside, of the memories and emotion that it symbolises for so many.

Instead it rather looks as if its 11 concrete pillars, including four massive corner towers that surround the ground and support the most recent tier and the roof that was added to the stadium have been just dropped there from a great height.

Though there is no doubt the size of the San Siro is remarkable, and incredible in its vastness, there is nothing of the modern day stadia that takes your breath away.

Inside is a different matter.

Looking around from pitch level gives you a different feeling.

It feels like the giant of world football which it is.

The majesty and prestige of Italian football, and of Inter Milan as well, may have waned a little over recent years.

However, it is from this pitch side viewpoint that you appreciate just how big the San Siro really is.

While money has poured into the Premier League, Saints are still happy to try and get 30,000 into St Mary’s.

Looking at this empty 80,000 seater stadium you can almost feel the atmosphere of a big European game, a Milan derby or a title decider, with the noise and passion of the crowd, the banners, the flares going off.

In that respect it has a completely different feel from what we are used to in England.

The stadium has a museum, a nod to its glorious past, and the fact that it is constantly busy with tours shows just what a visitor attraction the ground is in its own right, even without a football match on.

For the team, the dressing rooms are fairly vast and sparse. There is not a lot of fuss or warmth particularly.

As the Saints players got the chance to train in the empty stadium last night they no doubt looked around in the same sense of awe as the fans will when they step foot inside for the first time today.

It might well be that the stadium will be less than half full, but for around 7,000 Saints supporters that won’t matter at all.

They have made it to somewhere special and can always say they were then when Saints played at the San Siro.