Atletico Madrid were desperately disappointed to lose 1-0 at home to Real Betis on Sunday, with Antony’s goal separating the teams. It was a poor performance from Diego Simeone’s side, who had beaten the same opponents 5-0 in their own backyard only three days prior.
Club captain Koke Resurreccion was one of those to be most hurt by the defeat, which has all-but assured that Atleti will not be in the La Liga title race – they now trail Barcelona and Real Madrid by 13 and 12 points respectively. However, he was equally frustrated at the condition of the RiyadhAir Metropolitano pitch, as he made clear during post-match comments to the media (via Marca).
“Honestly, the pitch is not in good condition. We slip, the turf comes up… A team like Atletico needs the pitch to be good in order to play. We’re expected to perform at a high level, and we need a pitch of that level to be able to do so; a top-quality surface. Being realistic, we have to play better. It’s not an excuse, but here we’re slipping, and the best conditions are like the pitch was the other day at La Cartuja.”
Atleti will need to do something about playing surface
It must be remembered that the RiyadhAir Metropolitano will be hosting the 2027 Champions League final, as was confirmed by UEFA earlier in the season. Atleti were delighted to win that bid, but if there are question marks about the playing surface now, they will want to eradicate them now so that they don’t continue into the following campaign.
Given the nature of Atleti’s fixture schedule, it will be difficult for a new pitch to be laid anytime soon. The only real chance would be between the home matches against Getafe and Barcelona, for which there is a three-week gap that runs over the international break.
