The once-perfect carpet of the Parc des Princes is no longer what it used to be. Fans and players alike noticed it: the pitch looked battered, riddled with holes during PSG’s clash with Angers.
Luis Enrique didn’t hide his frustration: “The pitch is in poor condition.” A rare complaint, especially since Paris has long boasted one of the finest playing surfaces in world football — thanks to head groundsman Jonathan Calderwood, hired precisely for that reputation.
So what went wrong? According to Le Parisien, the culprit is simple: the summer heatwave. PSG had laid new turf at the end of last season, but the extreme August temperatures in Paris — well above 30°C — have left the young grass scorched and fragile.
Recovery plan in place
The problem isn’t new: the same thing happened last summer. This turf is designed to thrive between 10°C and 25°C, not under brutal heatwaves.
The club remains confident the pitch will bounce back by mid-September, just in time for the clash with Lens on the 14th and PSG’s Champions League debut shortly after.
For now, though, the Parc’s famous “green carpet” looks more like a battlefield.
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