The Blues host Scotland in Lille on Tuesday, on a pitch which recently hosted five Rugby World Cup matches, and which still bears the scars.
Taking their first steps on the pitch at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d’Ascq (North), during match eve training on Monday, the Blues couldn’t help but make a few grimaces. If France-Scotland could be a formidable rugby poster, the football match which will be played between the two nations, Tuesday October 17, could offer a less flamboyant game due to the state of the pitch, which has just suffered a plowing in order during the five Rugby World Cup matches it hosted.
“You want me to compliment the lawn? It’s beautiful”, quipped Didier Deschamps at a press conference on Monday. With two World Cup matches hosted last weekend (England-Samoa on Saturday, and Tonga-Romania on Sunday), the gardeners of the northern enclosure had work to get it back into shape for football, as they had afterwards France-Uruguay, where entire sections of grass had been turned over in scrums.
The green rectangle has since been fertilized, stitched, aerated, rolled, sanded and refilled, according to La Voix du Nord, “a normal protocol” according to the stadium manager, who is not considering replacement for the moment. The pitch at the northern enclosure, not really known to be the best in Ligue 1, particularly due to its deterioration when the stadium changes configuration to accommodate concerts, had already been changed in August. A hybrid turf, half-natural, half-synthetic, was then installed, and the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, on Instagram, was delighted with a solution supposed to offer “the best performances in terms of playing attire and athlete satisfaction”.
“The gardeners did their bestcontinued Didier Deschamps, but we cannot say that it is a beautiful lawn. We feel that she suffered. I think that the Losc players, when they had to play between two rugby matches, must have complained.”. And the coach doesn’t think he’s saying it that well. “The pitch is not in good shape, it is irregular, difficult to set up the game”regretted Paulo Fonseca, the coach of the Mastiffs, at a press conference.
A washed out lawn
Along with that of the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, the pitch of the Pierre-Mauroy stadium is the one which hosts the most matches (13) between the start of the football season and the end of the Rugby World Cup, including rugby matches in particular. Europa League conference which is added to the “classic” calendar of a Ligue 1 club.
Despite this busy schedule and the hosting of five World Cup matches, information known in advance, the Pierre-Mauroy stadium was still chosen by the French Football Federation (FFF), which had launched a consultation, so call for tenders for the reception of its selections.
The Losc venue was designated host for this friendly match against Scotland on May 11. And if this designation may raise a few questions, it should be remembered that stadiums with a similar capacity (50,000 seats) in France have also been the scene of rugby matches, with the exception of the Parc des Princes, where the Blues have already played against Ireland in September.