The newly-laid lush green pitch at the Allianz Arena has brought a smile to Felix Magath's lips. "Thank the Lord. This is something we really needed. It'll help us win the match," the Bayern coach declared after Thursday training at the Säbener Strasse.
Bayern and TSV 1860 have been forced to expend more effort on ball control and dribbling than on their opponents at the Allianz Arena recently after the severe winter badly affected the pitch, but that time is thankfully over. The new temple of football in Munich has received a freshly-laid playing surface to coincide with Bayern's showdown against Schalke 04.
"Thank the Lord. This is something we really needed. It'll help us win the match," coach Felix Magath declared after Thursday training at the Säbener Strasse. At exactly the same time, a dozen-strong labour crew was busily putting down the new sod at the Arena, possibly breaking records as they worked in double-quick time.
Grass from the West
Lush new turf covered more than half the pitch by midday on Thursday. The €100,000 re-laying operation is scheduled for completion at some point on Friday, leaving the fresh grass around 48 hours to put down a few roots before the late afternoon kick-off against Schalke. "Two days are long enough," explained Allianz Arena Munich Stadium GmbH Managing Director Peter Kerspe.
A convoy of HGVs hauled the rolls of turf in 20 truckloads from the Rhineland in the west of Germany to the Bavarian capital. The turf originally grown for the Arena in the vicinity of Munich remains covered by a thick blanket of snow. This year's harsh winter had seriously affected the stadium operator's original plans, Kerspe reported.
Winter-related delay
"We laid a new pitch in mid-November, and we initially thought we'd be all right with two playing surfaces per season. But we're still in a four-month winter with extremely severe frost," the operating company chief explained. The original plan foresaw re-laying the pitch three or four weeks ago, "but it just wasn't possible."
Regardless of what state the pitch is in following Bayern and TSV 1860 Munich's endeavours over the next few weeks, the pitch-laying crew will be back at the Arena in mid-May. "FIFA has ordered the same turf to be laid at every World Cup stadium. The idea is to have the same conditions everywhere as far as possible," Kerspe observed.
"Thank the Lord. This is something we really needed. It'll help us win the match," coach Felix Magath declared after Thursday training at the Säbener Strasse. At exactly the same time, a dozen-strong labour crew was busily putting down the new sod at the Arena, possibly breaking records as they worked in double-quick time.
Grass from the West
Lush new turf covered more than half the pitch by midday on Thursday. The €100,000 re-laying operation is scheduled for completion at some point on Friday, leaving the fresh grass around 48 hours to put down a few roots before the late afternoon kick-off against Schalke. "Two days are long enough," explained Allianz Arena Munich Stadium GmbH Managing Director Peter Kerspe.
A convoy of HGVs hauled the rolls of turf in 20 truckloads from the Rhineland in the west of Germany to the Bavarian capital. The turf originally grown for the Arena in the vicinity of Munich remains covered by a thick blanket of snow. This year's harsh winter had seriously affected the stadium operator's original plans, Kerspe reported.
Winter-related delay
"We laid a new pitch in mid-November, and we initially thought we'd be all right with two playing surfaces per season. But we're still in a four-month winter with extremely severe frost," the operating company chief explained. The original plan foresaw re-laying the pitch three or four weeks ago, "but it just wasn't possible."
Regardless of what state the pitch is in following Bayern and TSV 1860 Munich's endeavours over the next few weeks, the pitch-laying crew will be back at the Arena in mid-May. "FIFA has ordered the same turf to be laid at every World Cup stadium. The idea is to have the same conditions everywhere as far as possible," Kerspe observed.
