FC Barcelona have submitted a complaint to UEFA over the pitch at Atletico Madrid’s stadium, following issues with the surface in previous matches.
Spanish outlet Marca report that Barcelona boss Hansi Flick spent a while testing the Wanda Metropolitano pitch during his team’s pre-match training session on Monday, and he was unhappy with the results.
Flick approached a UEFA official to ask about the surface, and Marca claim a complaint has been submitted to UEFA on this issue.
The response was that UEFA would calibrate and trim the grass if necessary, ensuring that the height of the grass doesn’t exceed three centimetres uniformly across the entire pitch. For their part, Atletico claim the grass is the same height as always.
In addition to the length of the grass, UEFA will also control the amount of water applied to the surface on matchday.
This is all significant because the pitch surface at the Wanda Metropolitano has already caused problems for various teams in big games this season.
Barcelona’s Joan Garcia conceded a goal in a Copa del Rey match against Atletico after an unusual bounce of the ball from a backpass, and Tottenham Hotspur went 3-0 down in 15 minutes after three separate slips leading to goals.
There have been suspicions that Atletico are messing with the pitch conditions in some way, causing problems for unprepared opponents while their own players change their studs and so on.
If Arsenal and Atletico both see out their first-leg leads to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League, the Wanda Metropolitano pitch will be Mikel Arteta’s problem next.
The Gunners coach might want to keep a close eye on how things play out on Tuesday night.