Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo gave short shrift to complaints from Arsenal about their pitch.
Ahead of the 1-1 first-leg Champions League draw Arsenal staff were seen objecting to the Metropolitano grass and even measuring it alongside UEFA officials.
Barcelona kicked up a similar complaint earlier in the month, but on both occasions the length fell within the limits.
And therefore Cerezo found the matter rather silly.
“I imagine the pitch is perfect, the field is fantastic,” he told a pool of journalists.
“So, I don’t know what they could possibly complain about.
He added: “If we beat Arsenal, we’ll heal a big wound, and many others before it.
“But first we have to get through, and to get through, we first have to play well.
“We have to be focused; that’s what we expect from our players today.”
Arsenal’s grass complaints
Paramount+ reporter Guillem Balague explained what had gone on pre-match.
“I need to tell you about the war of grass,” he began.
“Arsenal’s ground staff came in thinking the grass is too high and actually asked UEFA to measure it, they actually thought it was Simeone creating dark arts.
“After a while UEFA said ‘no it’s actually 26 millimetres’ the limit is 30, between 21 and 30.”
Co-host Alessandro Del Piero added: “I’m worried about Arteta and Arsenal bringing up this thing.
“It’s a picture of the moment for Arsenal, they are struggling at the moment and need to look at every detail.”




Leave a Reply