Manchester United’s crunch Champions League clash against Galatasaray is under threat after heavy rain in Istanbul flooded parts of the pitch on Tuesday afternoon. The Red Devils are scheduled to face the Turkish outfit on Wednesday evening but face an anxious wait to see if the match will go ahead.
UEFA staff were filmed testing the condition of the pitch a mere five hours before kick-off as rain cascaded down on the Rams Park turf. Images on social media showed that several sections of grass were flooded with rain water.
According to ESPN, UEFA were concerned about the state of the pitch and sent several members of staff to ensure that it was suitable to stage the Group A clash. They were seen throwing the balls into the air to see if they bounced sufficiently.
However, some of the balls landed flat into puddles without bouncing back into the air. It leaves the governing body with a tough decision to make just hours ahead of the teams arriving for the match.
As things stand, UEFA insist that the game will go ahead. However, the staff who were instructed to inspect the pitch reportedly did not ‘seem impressed’ by the state of play.
United ideally need to beat Galatasaray to have any chance of advancing to the knockout stages of the tournament. Erik ten Hag’s side will be desperate for the game to go ahead having flown to Instanbul off the back of two consecutive Premier League victories.
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