Champions League: Luzhniki to get new turf

28 April, 2008, 17:39

The Champions League final is just three weeks away now. Preparations at the Luzhniki Stadium are going into overdrive in a bid to get everything ready. This includes the laying of the new turf on the pitch.

The stadium is best known as the venue for the 1980 Olympics. But what lies ahead is the biggest international sporting event it’s held since. Football's elite have been dreaming of Moscow. And on May 21 this grandiose arena is where they all want to be.

The last game of this stature played here was Russia's defeat of England last October. It was a game where the build-up was all focused on the plastic pitch.

It's ideal for Russia's harsh winters, but it doesn't please foreign visitors.

Now it’s time to replace it. Real grass, grown under artificial conditions in the Moscow region last year, is now being painstakingly laid, square by square, row by row.

The process should take just a couple of days.

Around the ground there's plenty of polish being applied to replenish a stadium that's been going for over 50 years.

Small additions like new turnstiles have been added. But it's the majesty of the main arena itself that will captivate the viewing millions, and prove a fitting backdrop to two of the Europe's greatest teams.