New herb… Latin American. In a record 48 hours, a turf planted near Barcelona was laid at the Stade de France stadium in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis on the occasion of Saturday’s Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.

At this stadium north of Paris, a group of trucks unloaded 500 rolls of green grass that looked like straw bales.

Tractors open each roll weighing from 750 kilotons like a plant carpet 15 meters long and 1.2 meters wide.

Nearby, a team of experts is working to remove scattered grains of sand from the substrate they have been growing on since November at a farm north of Barcelona. Others are busy putting the strips together perfectly.

The cargo was delivered in two batches on 24 refrigerated semi-trailers.

The former “cleaned” grass was removed, according to Stade de France staff, the day after the French Cup final in early May and ahead of a long string of anticipated concerts. A chain that the grass won’t hold.

“This is a huge logistical challenge,” sums up Loïc Duruzel, founding director of the Stade de France, because the operation had to be completed in two days instead of five, given the approaching date of the final and the organization of the concert by the French pop-rock band Indochine.

The increase in the number of concerts after a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, interspersed with sports competitions, required the speedy installation of a turf, which consists of an artificial mat on which natural grass grows.

The transfer of the Champions League final from St. Petersburg due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine to Paris has accelerated this process of correction.

After completion of installation on an area of ​​8800 square meters, the lawn should be watered, pampered, marked and demarcated.

– play fast –

Overseeing the UK operation at the headland is Andy Cole, one of Europe’s most experienced turf specialists and technical adviser to the Vinci i-Turf division overseeing the implementation.

“We must not forget that 5% artificial, but also 95% natural (grass)”, – said the expert, who was achieving full readiness before the start of the first exercises on the field on Friday.

“The challenge lies in measuring the surface, the ball must roll perfectly,” explains Benoît Laval, assistant director of programming at the Stade de France.

Real Madrid wanted the grass to be between 20 and 23 millimeters, “Madrid prefers to play fast, the shorter the grass is for him”, but the European Union (UEFA) will decide in their own eyes “between 24 and 25”.

Notably, this green carpet is only available for one month!

After the Real Madrid-Liverpool final in June, it will see the France national football team and then the rugby team before moving to Le Mans Stadium for the next four or five years to replace the current grass pitch. coverage that has come to an end. .

“He will be rewound, loaded into Le Mans, where his life will end,” explains Lavalier.

Like every summer, concerts can be held at the Stade de France until the turf is replaced.

The cost of the operation is “between 300,000 and 500,000 euros”, according to the Stade de France teams.

The grass is ready and 80,000 spectators will gather in the stadium, which was built in the 1990s to host the 1998 World Cup final when France won the first of two world titles.