Chelsea - Barca at Stamford "Beach" ???

BARCELONA’S stars have slammed Jose Mourinho for Chelsea’s sand pit of a pitch.

SunSport revealed yesterday how the Blues have sparked a turf war ahead of Barca’s visit on October 18.Chelsea claim they are innocently maintaining their playing surface ahead of the Champions League clash.

But angry Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta reckons Mourinho is up to his old tricks again.
Iniesta said: “We know what Mourinho is like. If the game turns out the same as last year then it won’t bother us if he puts sand on the pitch. He can put whatever he wants on the pitch — it’s all the same to us.”

But midfield playmaker Xavi fears the dodgy grass could spell disaster for Barca.
The Spanish giants won 2-1 at sandy Stamford Bridge last year but only after Chelsea had Asier Del Horno sent off.Xavi said: “This seems very bad for us because they play direct football and Barcelona have a passing game. This will benefit them but not us. We won at Stamford Bridge last year on the sand but only just. It wasn’t easy and it helped they were a man down. We prefer to have a good pitch and when they come to the Nou Camp we will water the surface, so we can play a fast passing game on the floor, the way we like.”

Barcelona legend Andoni Zubizarreta insists Chelsea have a responsibility to provide a perfect pitch for such a big game — so the teams do not end up playing beach football.The former keeper added: “I don’t know what to say about this. I don’t know if it’s a question of problems with their pitch, if it’s been done for maintenance. But the biggest games, like this one will be in the Champions League, should be played in the best possible conditions that you can achieve with the pitch. It’s important to have a good pitch so both teams can play. But you have to make sure you perform no matter what the conditions are.”

Anna Revilla, of Barcelona’s hardcore London-based supporters group ‘Pena Blaugrana’, blasted: “I can’t believe they’ve put sand all over the pitch again! They did it last year and, even though it was raining before the game, they watered the pitch. It was really bad last year.
Of course Mourinho is doing this to get at Barcelona. The Barcelona players pass the ball on the floor and if the pitch isn’t smooth it’s not good for us. All the Barca fans will be angry about this. Last year everyone was asking how the Chelsea pitch can be so bad when they have Abramovich and all his millions? Now they have put sand on the pitch again this year just when we are coming to play them again — that’s really bad!”

But a Chelsea spokesman last night insisted the sanding of the pitch was merely routine.
He said: “An 18-day break between home fixtures has allowed our groundstaff to carry out routine maintenance work on the pitch.The drainage system is being improved to ensure the pitch stays in top condition.The international break allows us to carry out this work towards our aim of maintaining our playing surface as one of the best in the league.Recent years have seen much investment going into it.”