FLORENCE, Italy — As soon as the final parking space is taken on Saturday afternoon, long before kickoff, the roads around Verona’s Stadio Bentegodi will go into lockdown.
Crack counterterrorism units — as well as Italy’s regular police and the carabinieri (military police) — will patrol the streets near the stadium. It is an unprecedented security measure for a city whose two soccer teams, Hellas and Chievo, tend to labor in quiet mediocrity.
These, though, are unusual times. Verona’s authorities are expecting some 30,000 fans to descend on the Bentegodi, a brisk 30-minute walk from the city’s historic heart.