Bayern travel early to train on Stavanger's artificial pitch before Champions League game
Bayern Munich will play a Champions League game on artificial turf for the first time since 2006. Coach Vincent Kompany has moved the final training session to Viking Stavanger's stadium.
Archive image · Photo: Mike Serigrapher / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Bayern Munich are changing their preparations for Tuesday's Champions League match at Viking Stavanger. The German champions will fly to Norway earlier than usual and hold their final training session at the venue rather than at their Säbener Strasse base. The Champions League newcomers play their home games on artificial turf; kickoff is at 9 p.m. local time.
Coach Vincent Kompany said the surface made no difference to him, even though, by his own account, he never played on artificial turf in a 20-year career. Sporting director Max Eberl was blunt: “We want to beat Stavanger, full stop.” Skipping a session on the pitch would be “negligent,” he said. Players are expected to use the session mainly to choose the right footwear.
It will be Bayern's first Champions League game on artificial turf since November 2006, when they drew 2-2 at Spartak Moscow with two goals from Claudio Pizarro. Captain Joshua Kimmich said he would wait and see, while Harry Kane said players would need a short time to get used to the surface.