Champions League Pitch is ‘Not Ready’

May 20, 2008 by CLDsport

Champions League Logo The pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium is ‘not ready’ according to English Groundsman Matthew Frost.

Frost, who is in charge of providing the pitch for the Champions League final, said in The Daily Telegraph:

“We’ve done what we can and it is getting better every day, but unfortunately the final is too soon for us. There are dead patches and it looks like dozens of cricket batting strips in a nice green outfield.”

The artificial pitch has been replaced with grass, but Frost doesn’t think either Man Utd or Chelsea will be happy with the surface - despite having nine months to prepare for tomorrow’s final.

However, the Groundsman’s advice has not been taken into account - despite his experience having been responsible for last years Champions League final pitch in Athens - as officials decided to use a pitch grown locally. After this pitch became too bumpy, a new one was shipped in from Slovakia earlier this month. Unfortunately, the turf did not travel well, and some areas are all but destroyed.

Frost added:

“The transport was difficult and it damaged the turf. I don’t think the grass was stretched out properly. There are patches that are desiccated, with dead plant material on the surface. There’s no life in it and there’s no chemical to bring that back to life and you just can’t water it. It’s less good than the average Premier league pitch, but it is an awful lot better than the plastic pitch underneath, which was like playing on concrete.”

UEFA have played down any issues with the surface with President Michel Platini saying:

“I think we should wait until the players and coaches have seen it - I have not heard of a problem.”

Manchester United manager has also played down any problems with the pitch, BEFORE seeing it. Let’s wait and see if he makes any comments when United train on it later today.

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