Real Madrid laboured to what ended up as a comfortable win against RB Leipzig on Wednesday night, defeating the German side with two goals in the final 20 minutes.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti was pleased with his side after the match though, even if he admitted it had been a thick match.
His goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was slightly more critical about the match. Speaking to Movistar+, via Sport, the Belgian put some of that down to the pitch at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“Leipzig are a good team and we struggled a lot today. The first half was not good, the state of the pitch does not help us to play our football.”
“The boss changed things at the break, we did not create much danger but we put away the ones [chances] we did have. These matches are important to win and now winning the double duel against Shakhtar [Donetsk] you are already qualified.”
Los Blancos are well on their way to qualification, with Shakhtar their closest rivals on four points, meaning two wins would mathematically qualify them.
Director of Institutional Relations and club spokesperson Emilio Butragueno agreed that the pitch was not up to standard, when speaking to Movistar+, this time via Mundo Deportivo.
“The grass has come from Extremadura and there the temperatures were very high. It [the grass] has struggled to acclimatise, but in the coming weeks it will improve.”
With their next game away at Atletico Madrid, followed by an international break, the staff at the Bernabeu will have around three weeks to work out the issues with the grass before any more games take place there.
The grass did look terrible and bumpy. Let’s see what the greens keepers can do.