Is the Bernabeu pitch behind Real Madrid’s long list of serious injuries?

As Real Madrid face Manchester City in the Champions League tonight, theories have been swirling about the number of injuries that have been suffered to key players since the pitch was installed. 

That’s because Real Madrid’s pitch is now retractable. 

Real Madrid made the pitch switch back in 2023

The idea behind the revolutionary retractable surface at the Santiago Bernabeu is to allow one of the world’s biggest sports clubs to host the world’s largest sporting events. 

It means that the pitch comes apart into several pieces so that it can be taken away and stored in six ‘trays’ which go into an underground storage chamber. 

With the football pitch safely stowed away, the stadium is fit to host the biggest concerts, or other sports like basketball and the NFL. 

It sounds like a great idea, but could it be having an unintended knock-on effect on the primary occupants of the stadium? 

As Manchester City arrived in the Spanish capital this evening, they’ll have been delighted that a few names aren’t on the teamsheet. 

Kylian Mbappé has been out for several weeks with a knee injury, and while that might not seem that strange, it’s the latest in a line of injuries that some have attributed to the surface at the Santiago Bernabeu and the training centre, which has pitches set to the same exact specifications.

Rodrygo is missing too, the Brazilian out for the season with – you’ve guessed it – a knee injury. 

Mbappé and Rodrygo’s injuries are part of a pattern

In fact, since the new pitch came in back in August 2023, seven Real players have suffered serious knee injuries. 

Thibault Courtois, Éder Militão, David Alaba, Dani Carvajal, and youngster Joan Martinez have all suffered. 

Reports in the Spanish press have suggested that the pitches could be causing the injuries, with El Mundo reporting that ‘the club is currently investigating to determine whether this is simply a coincidence’. 

Defensa Central adds: “The club wants to thoroughly investigate this coincidence (…) 

“And it’s not only the staff who are concerned, the players themselves are considering the possibility that the quality of the pitches at the Bernabéu and Valdebebas training facilities may not be optimal.”

Why are people looking to the ground for answers? 

Well, because of the nature of the pitch, it is more shallow than a regular pitch. 

Instead of a good few centimetres of turf followed by a gravel underlayer, this pitch has much less going on underneath it, then a metal plate. 

That means that it could be easier for players’ studs to get stuck, meaning that – from time to time – they won’t emerge from the turf as expected. 

When the studs don’t come out, and the rest of the player moves, that can be seriously bad news. 

It’s the perfect storm for knee injuries, ACL ruptures, and more. 

So, is the pitch to blame? Could it be the root cause of Madrid’s ongoing injury woes? 

We’ll have to wait and see what the club decides to do – if anything.