The Women's Champions League Sparks Controversy Around Real Madrid, Chaos in Valdebebas

Real Madrid Take a Giant Step Toward Advancing to the Champions League Semifinals. Alberto Toril's players defeated Arsenal 2-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals, a match played at Alfredo di Stéfano, a stadium located in the Ciudad Deportiva.

That location in Valdebebas was the ideal setting for a highly important clash for a squad that still hasn't managed to overcome FC Barcelona. But it shows it is capable of 'fighting' and defeating the best teams in the Old Continent like the gunner discipline. This necessary victory for Women's Real Madrid, however, has not been without controversy.

As happens with other sections of the club, Women's Real Madrid's victory against Arsenal in the Champions League was joined by the field at Alfredo di Stéfano stadium. The green carpet of the second Madrid stadium lifted easily during the match against Arsenal, provoking dozens of comments about its questionable state of preservation.

Real Madrid have offered an explanation as forceful as it is logical. The rains that have repeatedly hit the Spanish capital for the past two weeks have waterlogged the field of the merengue venue. While it is true that the Gardening services have done everything possible to maintain it in the best possible condition, not everyone is happy.

Great Confusion

Arsenal among them, as the English entity posted a curious "fighting in difficult conditions" on their social media. The criticisms from the British Isles about the field at Alfredo di Stéfano, like those made by Ian Wright, provoke a new response from the entity presided over by Florentino Pérez. The field at Alfredo di Stéfano is usually, like that of Santiago Bernabéu, in perfect condition.

It has already been demonstrated in other instances, close to that Champions League match, in which the teams that visited the Madrid facilities did not issue any complaints. That's why the constant attacks that the white team has received, where there is even talk of "lack of respect", have a direct response from the merengue entity.

From the Valdebebas offices, they insist that adverse weather conditions have affected the state of the field, which hasn't had enough time to recover due to the imminence of the match. Many commentators and some media outlets have also suggested that Arsenal's defeat was due to the state of the playing field... and not to the clear Madrid superiority in the first leg of the quarterfinals.

Be that as it may, the white executives will monitor the state of the field more closely to prevent this episode from repeating and the heated criticisms they have received. It remains to be seen the outcome of a tie that will be solved in England... where it will be tested whether the field or the football arguments were the cause of Arsenal's defeat in the first leg of this quarterfinal tie.