Real Madrid has a problem with the pitch at the Bernabéu, something that has been very noticeable in several games this season, such as the one played last Saturday against Celta. Before the visit of Manchester City, on May 9, the white club will change the pitch at the Bernabéu for the fifth time this season, according to the club, which was damaged by the dust emanating from the stadium works, which have been going on for more than three years. Each change has an approximate cost of 300,000 euros.

Carlo Ancelotti is very aware of the problem, which he exposed today in the Valdebebas press room on the eve of traveling to Girona: “All the teams want to play on beautiful grass. We do too, and we know very well the problems we have at the Bernabéu It’s not that we’re complaining, but we’re making it clear. The grass is suffering from the works and they’ll fix it as soon as possible.”

After the match against Celta, players from the Vigo team complained about the state of the green mat, who denounced that the ball was not moving as it should. But not only them, Marco Asensio also complained when he explained his goal in the mixed zone: “The grass is very bad. He knew that he had to secure and I hit him down”.

From the white club they assure that the bad state of the grass is caused by the dust that comes off from the works of the stadium. However, the poor condition of the grass has not been uncommon since the last renovation of the Bernabéu due to the fact that the height and verticality of the stands prevented sunlight from reaching several areas of the field, especially the one located near the north end, where the grass did not grow as it should. This was most evident in the cold winter months.

To mitigate this problem, Madrid hired an English head gardener, Paul Burgess, for twelve years and for a galactic salary, who carried out that job until he decided to change the project in 2021 and now works at Chelsea. He was replaced by José María Fernández Muñoz and the grass continued in good condition last season, 2021-22, but not the current one.

Real Madrid hopes to finally shelve this problem when the retractable grass comes into operation, one of the innovations in the remodeling of the Bernabeu, a pioneering system in Europe that will allow the six trays of grass to be stored in the basement of the stadium and taken out light only for parties. The work is expected to be finished to open in December this year.