Manchester United’s do or die Europa League clash with Zorya Luhansk on Thursday evening could be called off due to a frozen pitch, according to The Telegraph.
The Reds trained on the pitch at the Chornomorets Stadium after arriving in Odessa on Wednesday afternoon, but players and staff alike were not impressed with the conditions on offer, despite the pitch being kept under covers before United’s arrival.
Daley Blind told his Reds teammates that the pitch was “like running on rock”, while José Mourinho went on to criticise UEFA for scheduling United’s trip to Ukraine at this time of the year in his pre-match press conference:
The pitch is very hard and very icy. UEFA know the conditions of the pitch and everybody knows the conditions in Ukraine and Eastern Europe at this time of year.
If they are concerned, they should not play the last game of the group here in mid-December, when there are going to be problems. It should have been played in the middle of November.
Our flight was good, the stadium is good, our hotel is good, but the pitch is very bad. We know it is very cold and it is difficult to have a good pitch when it is like this.
A pitch inspection has been scheduled for 10am local time (8am GMT) on Thursday and with temperatures in Odessa set to fall to -9C and undersoil heating unavailable, the condition of the pitch could deteriorate further.
United only require a point to advance to the knockout stages of the Europa League, although the Reds will certainly have to be wary of Zorya, with the Ukrainian side drawing both of their home matches against Fenerbahce and Feyenoord in the group.
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