Santa Clara refute José Mourinho over pitch, say São Miguel surface will be fine | OneFootball

Santa Clara have rejected José Mourinho’s concerns over the Estádio São Miguel pitch before Benfica’s visit on Friday, saying the surface will be within normal conditions.

"The pitch is surely a problem," Mourinho said. "There are stadiums in the league where the standards are really low for a league that wants to be high level. Given the weather, it is possible it will be worse than it normally is," he told BTV.

The club say the playing field has been protected, with their last home game, against Estoril, 12 days ago. They have used the training centre instead to preserve the surface. Record reports that Petit’s squad do not prepare on the stadium pitch.

Even so, São Miguel has had chronic issues linked to local geology and has previously failed a Liga Portugal inspection. Majority shareholder Bruno Vicentin recently told RTP Açores there is an urgent need for works and a new pitch, adding the current one is at its limit.

Benfica visit Santa Clara on Friday 13 February at 18:30 in the Azores, to open matchday 22 of Liga Portugal Betclic.

Source: Glorioso 1904