Manchester United’s Europa League opponents Rostov have been BANNED from playing on their home ground due to the shocking state of their pitch

MANCHESTER UNITED’S Europa League opponents Rostov have been BANNED from playing on their home ground due to the poor state of their pitch.

The patchy, sandy Olimp-2 surface caused Jose Mourinho to be outraged ahead of the first-leg clash in Russia – a 1-1 draw.

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Ahead of the game he said: “It is hard for me to believe that we are going to play on that field, if you can call it a field.

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“I don’t know which team to play, don’t know if Henrikh Mkhitaryan is going to play. I was expecting something more playable.

“It’s a very similar pitch to the one in Beijing [United refused to play on in pre-season].

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"I told one gentleman from Uefa of my concerns. He just told me the players are insured, so what happens to them is no problem.

"I was analysing this very good opponent that we didn’t speak about yet, and in their previous matches against Bayern, Ajax, Atletico Madrid, in all these matches it looked for me a very playable pitch.

"I was very surprised with what I found here today."

Reuters

However, now the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL) has deemed the surface unsuitable and the side are banned from playing at home until the pitch quality improves.

The move is hardly a surprise, as even Rostov boss Ivan Daniliants dubbed the pitch a 'problem' ahead of the game.

Rostov are not the only Russian side to have the ban imposed on them, as Rubin Kazan have falled foul of the same punishment.