DFB Cup
Semi-finals in Saarbrücken: Lawn and weather in focus
The Saarbrücken Ludwigspark lawn seems to be holding up. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Before the explosive derby in the DFB Cup, everyone is looking forward to the pitch and the weather with excitement. The semi-final between Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern will probably take place.
As the city of Saarbrücken announced at the request of the German Press Agency, the lawn in the Ludwigsparkstadion was in good condition. It is assumed that there will be a game, the press office said.
A final inspection of the site took place on Monday. No further inspections were scheduled by the city on the day of the game. It was said that there would be the normal program flow. However, the referee has the last word before the explosive derby.
The weather is currently playing along
At the moment the weather seems to be kind to both teams and the fans. Although it rained again on the Monday after the pitch inspection, it was expected to remain largely dry with an overcast sky on match day.
After the quarter-final against Borussia Mönchengladbach was canceled at short notice and the game was replayed in sometimes questionable conditions, there was great fear in Saarland of another embarrassment on a big stage. If referee Marco Fritz decides that the pitch is not playable, the FCS would also lose home rights for a catch-up game.
Special measures taken
In order to protect the pitch, the German Football Association (DFB) postponed the third division game against Rot-Weiss Essen that was scheduled for last Saturday. 4,000 holes were also punched into the lawn and filled with fine sand to trap the moisture. A huge tarpaulin was also placed over the lawn over Easter. The city said this was a sensible measure with which good experiences had already been made in the past.