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Football

29th Sep 2015

PIC: Malmo have narrowed their pitch considerably for the arrival of Real Madrid’s wide men

The groundsman's been busy

Darragh Murphy

Malmo are availing of every possible advantage over 1/4 favourites Real Madrid.

The Swedish champions are giving their full backs extra protection by limiting the space into which Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale can run when Real Madrid travel to the Swedbank Stadion on Wednesday night.

During Malmo’s training session on Tuesday, it was visibly clear that the groundsman had moved each touchline in by about a metre, making the pitch significantly smaller.

wing

It’s not unheard of for teams to use this tactic when the pacier sides visit and you’d be hard pressed to find two faster players than Ronaldo and Bale at full sprint.

Now if only they could make the goals smaller by a metre or two, they’d be flying!

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