Workers will now move quickly as Los Blancos seek to avoid the indignity of having to play home matches at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.
They are currently working near 24 hours a day, in three shifts of eight, with more than 800 employees working on the pitch and the stands.
How close is the playing surface to being finished?
The retractable grass system is covered right now, so that the grass to be used this season can be installed on top.
As soon as this is complete, a provisional plate will be placed on which the turf is placed, and this will take place over three consecutive nights at the end of August.
What about the stands?
As soon as the pitch is covered, the lower tier stands will be built, although given there will be an attendance limit placed on LaLiga Santander matches for the time being, these lower portions may not need to be fully finished for September 12.
Preparing access
Ensuring 35,000 fans can attend a football match at a new stadium is no easy feat, with a lot of safety precautions needing to be taken.
Right now, entering from the East side of the ground is impossible, so two new access towers are being finished, with the structures having already been erected.
The two old access towers that faced the Paseo de la Castellana are being demolished.
Thomas Tuchel’s extra-time goalkeeping substitution proved an inspired one as Kepa Arrizabalaga saved two penalties to help Chelsea beat Villarreal and add the UEFA Super Cup to their Champions League triumph.
Kepa was Chelsea’s hero after being brought on in the final minute of the added half hour just for the spot-kicks.
Kepa saved Villarreal’s second attempt with his first meaningful touch and then Villarreal captain Raul Albiol’s decisive kick to clinch a 6-5 shootout victory in Belfast.
In February 2019 Kepa sparked controversy when he infamously refused to come off when then manager Maurizio Sarri wanted to replace him for a Carabao Cup final shootout.
But Edouard Mendy had no such issues and Chelsea prevailed to lift the Super Cup for the second time in the club’s history.
‘This was not spontaneous,’ Tuchel said of Kepa’s introduction. ‘We talked about it with the goalkeepers before my first cup game against Barnsley.
‘We had some statistics that we prepared and they showed that Willy Caballero is the best in penalty defending and they analysed like a thousand penalties from Willy.
‘Second best was Kepa and third best was Edou.
‘The analysis and goalkeepers coaches introduced me to the data, we spoke to all three goalkeepers very open and told them this can happen in knockout games.
‘If we have a change left that we take this change not for personal reasons but to help the team, to improve the chances as we have this proof off statistic.
‘It’s fantastic Edou accepts it. He puts his ego to one side when we take this decision and he is aware why we do this, this is the key. He knows it’s not a sudden idea of the manager.
‘There is proof that Kepa is better in this discipline and these guys are team players. I’m happy for Kepa and Edou to have a goalkeeper like this who is not too proud to step out of the field and happy to take this for the team.’
Kepa said: ‘It’s not a normal situation but I was ready because I knew that this can happen and I tried to be ready mentally and physically.’
Mendy said: ‘Of course I’m happy because we won and we work for this success. I knew since last year that if Kepa comes on the pitch he wilhelp the team. He did today so I’m really happy with Kepa.
‘It is a team work and team effort and when you play for Chelsea you play for success and you play for titles. We did this today, together and we are happy.’
Chelsea led through Hakim Ziyech, who came off with a shoulder injury before half time.
Tuchel said: ‘If you take a player out during the first half it is serious. Unfortunately he was a very good player for us.’
Villarreal talisman Gerard Moreno equalised to force extra time and the two sides could not be separated until Kepa’s dramatic sudden death intervention.
Chelsea begin their Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace on Saturday and Tuchel added: ‘Mentally this is a good one [victory] but physically [extra time] is the worst that can happen. But victory and a trophy helps to regenerate but we have to be careful now.’
Chelsea hope to have Romelu Lukaku in their ranks by the time they face Palace. He landed in England last night as he edged a step closer to finalising his £98m club record move to re-join Chelsea.
Sergio Ramos has told Lionel Messi and his family that they can move in with him if they get tired of staying in a hotel.
Bitter rivals for so many years in La Liga the former captains of Real Madrid and Barcelona are now team-mates and according to El Pais Ramos has already told Messi if he doesn’t want to stay in a hotel he is welcome to bring his family to Ramos’ house.
Messi is currently staying in the hotel Le Royal Monceau where all PSG’s big signings stay while they find permanent accommodation.
The hotel on Avenue Hoch is just off the Champs Elysees and Ramos was there briefly when he signed but is understood to have moved to the same Neuilly-sur-Seine area where Angel Di Maria and Marquinhos live.
Ramos had his run-ins with Messi during the Argentine’s 16 seasons at Barcelona and the house sharing offer is the first episode in a new chapter of their relationship.
It could still be some time before they appear on the pitch together. Ramos is out for two months with a thigh injury and Messi has not trained since the Copa America and is not expected to be available to Mauricio Pochettino (who was playing in defence for Espanyol when Messi made his Barcelona debut) before the end of the month.
It was from the seventh floor of the hotel Royal Monceau that Messi waved to supporters from when he arrived on Monday.
Director of football Leonardo had already persuaded Messi to stick his head out the window at the airport to waiting fans. PSG are desperate for him to fully engage with supporters as the 158 euros number 30 shirts start flying off the shelves of the club shops.
Back in Barcelona the club were still struggling to register new players so they can play for the club in Sunday’s first game against Real Sociedad.
Full-back Emerson has been registered but Barça’s struggles to get their wage bill down inside La Liga’s financial fair-play demands have left serious doubts over whether they will be able to register Memphis Depay.
Barcelona also need to settle accounts with Messi. There is uncertainty over whether the club will have to pay him a loyalty bonus.
A bonus of €77m appears in his 2017 contract. There have been suggestions that around 33m of that is still owed and Barcelona are uncertain of what exactly is owed and what will have to be paid.
The feeling in Barcelona is that Messi will not demand the money from his financially-sticken former club.
The player could also still be owed salary that was deferred during the pandemic under the previous president to help the club through the crisis.
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