FC Barcelona are concerned about the condition of the Chelsea pitch ahead of the UEFA Champions League clash between the respective national champions at Stamford Bridge on 22nd February as large patches of the playing surface have lost their grass.
Barca defender Silvinho, who played at rival Arsenal under Arsene Wenger for two years was quoted as saying:

"I cannot believe it. I have heard from close friends in London that Chelsea are making the condition of their pitch worse. I've heard many complaints about the pitch."

A pitch in terrible condition would definitely be an advantage to Chelsea´s game and to the disadvantage of such technically proficient players as Ronaldinho, Messi and Deco.

It seems that Chelsea will jump at any opportunity, fair or unfair, to gain the advantage. A Chelsea spokesman, confronted with this issue simply declared:

With two weeks needed to re-lay a pitch it is not feasible to do it this season. We are looking at the long term and want to give next season's pitch every chance. We have always had problems with the pitch. In the past we generally re-lay once during the season and then re-seed in the summer. But that creates a vicious circle as it makes it harder for the pitch to bed down in the summer.

Not surprisingly, Chelsea have ruled out replacing the pitch for this season.


Stamford Bridge - This Morning


The first leg of the Champions League tie with Barcelona takes place at Stamford Bridge on 22nd of February, with the return leg played at The Nou Camp on 7th of March.



My Opinion: Poor Chelski! After wasting all their money in players it seems that rich guy Abramovich has no money left to buy a bit of grass. Look at FC Barcelona, they just renewed their pitch in a single week. Unfortunately this is bad news for the impartial viewer. Instead of seeing excellent technically skilled football they'll probably see a mud fight on a potato field. My suggestion to UEFA would be to withhold some TV money paid to Chelski and invest it in some grass seeds so the true football fan (who actually pays the TV fees) can see what he deserves: quality football on a quality pitch. Roman, open your purse again and buy some grass!