According to MARCA, the Bernabéu grass is once again about to undergo a meticulously planned renewal operation. For months, the club has been warning that after an event like an NFL game there is a very high risk the playing surface would be left in very poor condition. “It’s normal for the pitch to be in bad shape after athletes weighing over 100 kilos have been crashing into each other on it,” has been the internal line.

That is why, when the decision was taken at the start of the 2025/26 season not to rush the debut of the new premium turf, it was done with care. Real Madrid knew it made more sense to make do with last season’s pitch until the major November event was out of the way [even though other sources reported that the pitch had already been replaced in the summer]. And they were right: the surface held up perfectly and did its job until the long-awaited moment. Only now will the club move to carry out the change – an operation planned down to the millimetre for months in advance, because they knew that as soon as the oval ball stopped flying over the Bernabéu, the clock would start ticking.

The new pitch has been prepared quietly behind the scenes. On a specialist farm in the north of Cáceres, owned by Tapiz Verde, one of Spain’s leading pitch producers, a high-quality hybrid grass mix has been cultivated for months in complete isolation from the rest. The chosen sports variety is RyeBlue: a balanced blend made up of 50% perennial ryegrass and 50% Kentucky bluegrass. It is the most expensive and most demanding option on the market, selected to minimise risk and finally leave behind the problems the stadium has suffered in recent years. At the same time, the system that will maintain it inside the underground greenhouse is still being fine-tuned.

Once the NFL “hands the stadium back” – the league controls it until the Monday after the game, which is one of the reasons stadium tours have been suspended – the countdown will begin. All the equipment in Valdebebas is already in place, and on Tuesday the complete removal of the old pitch will get under way. On Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., more than ten lorries and a specialist team will carry out the replacement of the surface. On Thursday, everything is due to be laid and perfectly levelled. There is no room for improvisation: the club demands an absolutely optimal state before the final phase of the operation.

Once the new grass is in place, the key stage begins. The pitch must stabilise and put down roots before it receives an extra layer of next-generation hybrid stitching. Machines will inject synthetic fibres every two centimetres and to a depth of up to 18 centimetres – a particularly complex process because of the stadium’s system of movable platforms. “This injection reinforces the natural grass. The roots anchor themselves to the fibres and, thanks to the depth, the grip is perfect. This is what is known as a hybrid pitch, but it is not artificial – the players don’t accept that term. It is simply a reinforcement of natural grass,” company representatives explain, stressing the importance of the technique.

The objective is clear: the new surface must be performing at maximum level for the next game at the Bernabéu, when on 7 December Real Madrid host Celta. Three days later they are due to face Manchester City there as well. For now, four consecutive away fixtures after the international break will give the pitch time to settle. The club believes that thanks to this process and the new “carpet”, the Bernabéu can finally put its past problems behind it and reach the level of stability the stadium – and its players – deserve.