LEGO Creator Expert - Real Madrid - Santiago Bernabéu Stadion

Product Information

The €800 million renovation project will give the home of the 13-time European champions a state-of-the-art retractable pitch to play on and the addition of a roof to play under. None of that is reflected in the LEGO model, however, which instead recreates the Bernabéu as it stood before renovations began in 2019. That’s no real surprise given the lead time likely required to develop 10299 Real Madrid – Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, and it does appear to capture all the details of the version of the stadium it’s aiming to portray. You build the Bernabeu in quadrants, ending with the roof, before connecting them all together with the use of Technic axels to keep them each half in place. Real Madrid – Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is a loving, authentic recreation that dives deep into the details of the stadium and captures not only every aspect of architecture that makes it such a unique home, but also a sense of that history and wonder too.

The LEGO® Real Madrid – Santiago Bernabéu Stadium set coincides with the club’s 120 th anniversary and the 75 th anniversary of the iconic grounds. The impressive set features over 5,800 pieces and has been designed to be the ultimate display piece for Real Madrid C.F. and LEGO fans — and to symbolise the spectacular pride felt by fans watching a match take place at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. If the words El Clasico, Galacticos, Zinedine Zidane, Alfredo Di Stefano, Florentino Perez don’t mean anything to you, or if you live in a country where football is called soccer, this set likely isn’t for you. Domestically, Real Madrid have won a record 34 La Liga titles and in European and worldwide football the club has won the most number of trophies, including a record 13 European Cups/Champions Leagues. Building it is very much in-keeping with construction of 10272 Old Trafford – Manchester United and 10284 Camp Nou – FC Barcelona before it, in sections that slot into place around the pitch. This is from the very, very many numbered bags that confront you at the start of the entire process, all the way through to slowly building a quarter of the stadium from the foundations up.

119 comments on this article

Madrid unfortunately couldn’t mark the set’s announcement week with victory in the Champions League, losing 1-0 to PSG in the first leg of their Round of 16 match on Tuesday night. Their next game is at the Bernabéu on Saturday, February 19, where they’ll face 18th-placed Alavés in La Liga.

The white roof is removable, and the technique used is quite clever – it doesn’t attach to any studs, and is just nested there on the inside of the grey rim, making it quite easy to lift up and remove. Final recommendation? My helper and I give it a big thumbs up for sports fans and Architecture-style buildings. If that’s not you, it comes down to if the build calls out to you, or you like the parts you get. It’s mostly hidden when the build is finished, but I like that the lower level entrance from the towers is finished with tiles; it manages to give that impression of a small tunnel emerging into the grand arena. Hot on the heels of fierce rival Barcelona’s LEGO stadium set, 10284 Camp Nou – FC Barcelona (and that won’t have been by coincidence), 10299 Real Madrid – Santiago Bernabéu Stadium offers novelty and intrigue for a series of LEGO models that could otherwise risk falling into a formulaic pattern. It’s satisfying to say, three stadiums into this collection, that the way you think building 10299 Real Madrid – Santiago Bernabéu Stadium will go is probably not the way it will actually go. It’s these unusual and unexpected ways of putting together the stadium that also have a way of drawing you in further to understand exactly what detail you’ve just added – because of the risk of an otherwise formulaic, cookie-cutter build experience, 10299 Real Madrid – Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is smart in ways other LEGO sets don’t have to be, and it’s all the better for it.For instance, it doesn’t just re-use the printed pitch pieces from the previous two stadium sets, but instead gets unique printed elements to match the real-life pitch’s iconic grass pattern. It also features goals, the dugout, banners, scoreboard, stairwells and all the other hallmarks of any good football stadium, while being covered top to bottom in Real Madrid branding. With this being the classic and iconic Bernabeu stadium, it gives fans a chance to own a piece of history, capturing their beloved Bernabeu stadium in its most memorable form as a large, and detailed display model ahead of its evolution.

Here’s the view of the front, and when completed, me and my wife were pretty happy with the result – the Bernabeu is a really stunning model, no thanks to its size, but also the repetitive features, and curves on the roof were particularly pleasing to the eye. The stands are captured brilliantly, and the repetition here is also quite hypnotic. I really appreciated the different angles achieved with each level, and the orange contrasts nicely against the blue. The set has a really interesting proposition, as Santiago Bernabeu will look nothing like the stadium most fans are familiar with as it’s undergoing significant renovations to upgrade its look. Imagine the early LEGO Architecture sets at this scale and complexity! But stadiums like the Bernabeu are one of a kind. Large, and looming, football clubs are able to invest heavily into their aesthetics and design, because of the commercial prowess of the game of football, and as such, stadiums do have an important role in the architecture world, and skyline of cities.The Santiago Bernabéu is a stadium that for its enormity in both architectural design and footballing history is held in awe, by fans and players the world over. It’s a longstanding home of legends and stars and a venue that has played host to some of the most spectacular teams the game has seen. It's funny, because I doubt it'd be as big of a deal or even a deal at all if American men were historically good at football. But because they're not, it's almost like England felt like and some still feel like they need to protect the quintessence of the sport from America or something by trying to separate the same exact sport via name. It's quite literally the definition of gate keeping. As an American I love England, in fact I want to live there someday, but it's such a petty thing to squabble about. Especially considering the fact that America in turn is regularly the team to beat when it comes to the women. This is a stadium that is unique in appearance, design and features and importantly, 10299 Real Madrid – Santiago Bernabéu Stadium includes enough of the details that make the Bernabéu so recognisable and distinct that the final model also captures the very essence and iconography of this behemoth of a football home.

My wife graciously did most of the heavy lifting with this set, building about 70% of the set while I was at work today, and somehow, we managed to finish it in time to take some photos (although not with natural sunlight as I prefer), and smash out this review.

It looks amazing, and better than the Camp Nou set. At least it is a stadium from a club that isn't going through a terrible phase lately like United and Barça. On other hand, there's some bad timing here, since the Bernabéu is under renoavation and it is going to look very different in two years or so. A must-have for any Madrid supporter?s club room, view all of the iconic details under the bright stadium lights of one of the world?s most famous football pitches! It surprises me, though. I would have thought they'd continue to produce sets that appeal to a wider audience, as they usually do." And last but not least, a lovely profile on the designer of the LEGO Santiago Bernabeu – Milan Madge. The build was a mixed bag – at 5876 pieces, it makes it the 8th largest LEGO set of all time, so you really do need to take your time with it, to make the most out of it.