Grass from Barcelona installed in the Champions League final in two days

The Stade de France, where the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid will be held tomorrow in the French capital, Paris, witnessed the installation of new grass from Barcelona, ​​and this was done within 48 hours in record time.

At this stadium north of Paris, a group of trucks unloaded 500 rolls of green grass that looked like hay bales.

The tractors open each roll, weighing between 750 kilotons, like a plant carpet 15 meters long and 1.2 meters wide.

Nearby, a team of experts is working to remove scattered grains of sand from the substrate they've grown on since November on a farm north of Barcelona.

Others are busy putting the strips between them perfectly.

The load was delivered in two batches via 24 refrigerated semi-trailers.

The former "peeled" grass was removed, according to the Stade de France staff, the day after the French Cup final in early May, and before a long series of anticipated concerts.

A chain that the grass can't stand.

"This is a huge logistical challenge," says Loic Durousel, the founding director of the Stade de France, because the operation had to be carried out within two days instead of five, given the approaching date of the final and the organization of a party for the French pop-rock group Indochine.

The proliferation of concerts after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, alternating with sports competitions, required rapid installation of the lawn, which consists of an artificial mat on which natural grass grows.

The transfer of the Champions League final from Saint Petersburg, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to Paris, accelerated this process of fixing.

After the installation is completed on an area of ​​8800 square meters, the lawn should be irrigated, pampered, striped and demarcated.

on the edge of the field, the British operation is watched by Andy Cole, one of Europe's most skilled turf specialists and technical advisor to Vinci i-Turf branch overseeing implementation.

"We should not forget that there is 5% of the artificial, but also 95% of the natural (grass)," said the expert, who sought complete readiness before the start of the first exercises on the field on Friday.

"The challenge is measuring the surfaces, the ball has to roll perfectly," explains Benoit Lavalle, assistant director of programming at Stade de France.

Real Madrid wanted the grass to be between 20 and 23 millimeters, "Madrid prefers to play quickly, the shorter the grass is for it," but the European Union (UEFA) will crush the matter in its view "between 24 and 25".

It is noteworthy that this green carpet is available for one month only!

After the Real Madrid-Liverpool final, it will see France national football matches in June and then the rugby team, before being moved to Le Mans for the next four or five years to replace the current grass that has come to an end.

"It will be rewound, loaded to Le Mans, where it will end its life," explains Lavallee.

As every summer, the Stade de France can host concerts before the lawn is re-placed.

The cost of the operation is "between 300,000 and 500,000 euros," according to the Stade de France teams.

The grass was prepared and the crowd of 80,000 will be present in the stadium, which was built in the nineties to host the 1998 World Cup finals, when France won for the first time out of two world titles.

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