Ahead of Manchester United’s Europa League game against Rostov, Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera and Juan Mata went out on to the pitch to test it out.
Here’s what they found.
Herrera & Rojo testing out the bounce of the ball in Rostov ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/BGTBQHeULv
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) March 8, 2017
Oof.
That’s the surface on which United will have to face Rostov in the first leg of their last 16 match at the Olimp-2 stadium.
You can see why Jose Mourinho was upset about it.
The United boss said: “It’s still hard for me to believe that we are going to play (there).
“I know that we have to, but it is hard for me to believe we are going to play on that field – if you can call it a field.
“And I don’t know what team to play, really. I don’t know if Henrikh Mkhitaryan is going to play, I don’t know.
“I have now a lot to think (about) because I was expecting something more playable.”
It is not an excuse, but FC Rostov's pitch is an absolute shambles. Should be genuine worries over players picking up injuries. Awful. pic.twitter.com/A8sroUp2WU
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) March 8, 2017
Mourinho also said a Uefa official had told him not to worry about his players getting injured because they’re insured.
“I just had a quick contact with one gentleman from Uefa when I was looking at the pitch,” Mourinho said.
“And when I told him about my concerns, the gentleman just told me, ‘The players are insured, if something happens no problem’.”
Still, could have been worse.
I know José likes a bit of a moan but come on, that #Rostov pitch is disgraceful #MUFC #EuropaLeague pic.twitter.com/nglvLJuJxU
— Mark. (@japp88) March 8, 2017
