Melbourne Victory played out a 0-0 draw with Suwon Bluewings last night, with players struggling to come to grips with the surface.

Consistently rated by A-League players as the best in the country, the surface was reduced to a patchy, uneven mess.

Time and again, players struggled with their passing and close control, slipping over at crucial moments.

Victory marquee Oliver Bozanic panned the surface at the conclusion of the stalemate.

“It wasn’t good at all. It was very bad,” Bozanic said.

It’s understood a disease affecting the grass is hurting groundskeepers’ efforts to regenerate the pitch after a busy fortnight for the multi-code venue.

Two rugby league and a rugby union match have taken place there in the past 10 days, with the ground also three games of soccer in six days this week.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat said he would need to engage stadium staff on the issue.

“It didn’t play well,” he said.

“The amount of football on it is unprecedented.

“Ideally Justin the groundsman prepares a much better surface on most other occasions but he was up against it with the amount of games on it.

“In my list of priorities it’s well down the pecking order but I’ll be sure to speak to him [on Wednesday].”

Both Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory play crucial league matches at the Olympic Park venue this weekend.

City host their former manager John Aloisi and his Brisbane Roar side at home for the first time since his departure on Friday night, and can sit on top of the league with a win.

Victory return to their home ground on Sunday afternoon as they look to stave off a threat to their finals place against Newcastle Jets.

Muscat’s side notoriously struggle to deal with poor pitches, with their fast passing and ball movement reliant on a sharply-curated ground.

Their nadir came in Auckland in December last year on a pitch so barren local ground staff painted sand green.

-AAP