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Barcelona have complained to UEFA about the length of the grass at the Vicente Calderon for tonight’s Champions League showdown with Atletico Madrid. It is said the Blaugrana were not happy with the state of the pitch and then complained to the UEFA about the length of the grass and the dryness of the playing surface and said it is ‘unacceptable’ to play on the field.
Previously when Barcelona had complained about the pitch, they ended up losing. Barcelona veteran, Xavi Hernandez spoke to the referee at half-time in the league defeat to Valladoid in the previous month and said, “The state of the pitch has prevented us from playing our natural game.”
Current Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho was also accused of not cutting the grass when he was Madrid manager and the Catalans believe that it is a deliberate trick of the opponents which stops them from playing their regular game.
The UEFA rules hand over the referee the responsibility for the state of the pitch and the referee can also tell the ground staff to trim the grass. English referee Howard Webb who will be the referee for tonight’s clash has not yet reported anything to the ground staff and Barcelona might just have to get on with it.
