Maracanã pitch gets intensive care ahead of run of derbies | OneFootball

Consortium takes advantage of a gap in the schedule to repair critical sections of the pitch before Flamengo vs. Botafogo and Fluminense vs. Vasco

With a decisive run of Rio derby matches in the Brazilian Championship, Maracanã’s management began work on the pitch this week. The intervention aims to restore heavily worn areas of the surface before the clash between Flamengo and Botafogo this Sunday, and the match between Fluminense and Vasco, scheduled for September 5.

The work by the Fla-Flu Consortium began right after the Fluminense vs. Remo match last Saturday. Taking advantage of the days without games at the stadium, the maintenance team focused on replanting and restoring the sections showing the most wear, with special attention to the penalty area at the north goal.

The urgency of the maintenance came along with warnings from the players themselves. In the mixed zone after Tricolor’s last match, full-back Renê openly criticized the condition of the pitch.

— In the Palmeiras game, it was complicated, a bit difficult. I think today it was even a little worse. We had some difficulty there, especially during the warm-up, we found the pitch a bit strange. There are a lot of games, right? We had played in Argentina, on a very good pitch, came back here and said: “Come on, that’s not possible.” But we understand it’s because of the number of games. I think the condition of the pitch is a bit critical right now. It has been better, and I feel that from the Palmeiras game until now, it has gotten worse. If it keeps going like this, the tendency is for it to get even worse — the full-back warned.

In addition to the state derbies in the Brazilian Championship, the maintenance plan set for August and September also meets the technical requirements for the NFL game scheduled to be held at the stadium next month.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.