Barcelona & Real Madrid should consider recalling their Spain stars to avoid injury on Lithuania's 'potato pitch'

Goal.com's Paul Macdonald assesses whether the clubs should have intervened to stop Spain's world champions from risking injury on Lithuania's shocking surface...

The pitch at the S. Darius and S. Girenas stadium in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, where Spain play their Euro 2012 qualifier against the hosts on Tuesday evening, is not fit for purpose. Whatever grass that once covered its surface has long since died, and has been compensated by piles of sand. Lines such as the centre circle and the boxes have been scrawled on top. Groundsman rake, with futility, as their tools simply create a dustbowl. A clear image of what the reigning champions have faced upon their arrival, can be found here.

La Furia Roja visit the eastern European outpost this evening, looking to solidify their position at the top of Group I. Four wins out of four has given them a healthy six-point lead at its summit, and Vicente del Bosque’s side face virtually no threat of failing to progress and defend their title in Poland and Ukraine next year.

All the more ridiculous then, that this fixture is still, at the time of writing, being discussed as potentially taking place. Sending some of the finest players in the world out on such an inappropriately-maintained field represents an unnecessary risk for all concerned. Del Bosque himself has already slammed the conditions, while Real Madrid full-back Alvaro Arbeloa has expressed his own personal concerns at being asked to play on a pitch light years from what he has become accustomed to, in virtually every stadium he has ever played in.

UEFA have, typically, proven non-committal and uncooperative. Delegate Raymond Koch arrived in Kaunas yesterday, and proclaimed that the match referee would make the final verdict on whether the game should take place.

What is the need to play the fixture now, you may ask? Group I has five teams after all, one less than all but two of the other sections, theoretically meaning that time should be available to fit the fixture into the calendar at a later date, when the Lithuanians are able to get their surface even within the proximity of international standard. The unfortunate answer to that solution is money. The RFEF are profiting rather well from peddling the draw of the world champions' to the highest bidder, and unfortunately meaningless friendlies are more valuable than the health of a player, or so it seems.