Uefa insists problem pitch won't spoil Champions League final

THERE are fears that a new pitch laid to host tonight's Champions League final could ruin the spectacle of European club football's showpiece match.

Chelsea and Manchester United go head-to-head at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow this evening in the first all-English final, with the stadium's artificial pitch replaced by a grass surface for the glamour match.

A first grass surface was laid on top of the artificial surface in October, but the procedure was not a success and new turf was brought in 16 days ago from Slovakia at a cost of an additional £160,000 after the initial outlay of just over £1.5 million.

Now European football's governing body is at odds with their own British groundsman, Matthew Frost, over the condition of the turf. Frost, who has been overseeing the installation of the pitch since last September, says the pitch is of a poorer quality than he would expect to find in the English Premier.

Groundstaff have worked through the night on the surface in an attempt to repair bare patches and a bumpy surface where blocks of frozen grass have not bedded down well.

Frost said: "I'm totally disappointed with the whole project and what we're presenting for the final. It's acceptable, but it's a big personal disappointment for me and the project as a whole because things haven't gone very well from the start, to be honest. That's Russia I'm afraid. It's not a perfect world."

Frost said it was never going to be possible to lay a pitch with average winter temperatures averaging minus five degrees Celsius.

He said that he finally managed to persuade the authorities to lay a new pitch which was put down 15 days ago.

"If I hadn't persuaded them and used the old one it would have been a catastrophe."

He said the main problem with the pitch now was how it looked and the consistency of the "ball roll".

But Frost's anxiety was at odds with Uefa president Michel Platini, who insisted the pitch would not be a problem.

The former France internationalist said: "I think we should wait until the players have trained on it and the coaches have seen it first. They are the ones who will decide on the state of the pitch. But I have not heard of any problems so far."

Platini was backed by Uefa general secretary and former Scottish Football Association chief executive David Taylor, who said the turf was "perfectly playable". Taylor said: "Uefa officials have seen the pitch and have reported that it is perfectly playable with no problems raised. The only problem is that the colour may not be ideal, but the pitch is playable."

"There have been a lot of comments from Mr Frost ... but he was responsible for the state of the pitch."

Uefa spokesman William Gaillard also assured supporters that, while the Luzhniki surface may not have the lustre of a Premier League pitch, the pitch will be perfectly playable tonight.

"We are slightly worried about the look of it," he said. "In terms of the quality, we have made some tests in the last few days and it is perfectly fine. It may not look very, very green on television, but, essentially, it is a good pitch to play football on."

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was just happy not to be playing on an artificial surface. "The fact they have relaid it from Astroturf to turf is a big delight to me," said Ferguson. "We are happy in that sense."