Arsenal apologise to Atletico Madrid after criticism forward of Champions League conflict
Arsenal have apologised to Atletico Madrid after the Spanish side made a complaint following their training session at the Emirates Stadium ahead of their Champions League clash
Arsenal have issued an apology to Atletico Madrid after the Spanish club lodged a complaint following their training session at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners are set to face Atletico in the third league stage game of the Champions League on Tuesday night. Mikel Arteta‘s squad will be aiming for a hat-trick of victories, having already triumphed over Athletic Club and Olympiacos in their first two matches of the tournament.
As part of their preparations for Tuesday’s clash, Atletico conducted a training session at the Emirates Stadium on Monday. Diego Simeone’s team braved the rain as they fine-tuned their strategy to take on Arsenal.
However, they were left without hot showers in both dressing rooms at the stadium due to a plumbing issue. Atletico claim that the problem persisted for over an hour, forcing them to return to their hotel for showers.
However, football.london reports that the issue was resolved within 40 minutes of Arsenal being made aware of it, with hot water restored before Atletico’s scheduled training end time. But by then, Simeone had decided to cut the session short.
Arsenal extended an apology to Atletico staff members for the inconvenience caused.
UEFA rules stipulate that hot water showers must be available in dressing rooms to meet stadium infrastructure guidelines. However, this requirement applies only to matchdays and not to pre-match training sessions.
Arsenal have had a strong start in the Champions League group stage with two victories, but Atletico Madrid are currently languishing in 10th place in the league stage, having won and lost one match.
The Spanish side suffered last-minute heartbreak in their 3-2 defeat to Liverpool last month but bounced back impressively with a resounding 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in their most recent Champions League fixture.
Ahead of their clash, Arteta expressed his admiration for Simeone, during his pre-match press conference.
He said: “Well, obviously there is someone that I look up to and learn from him in many situations and what is for me outstanding is his passion.
“I think for how long he’s been in the game and in the same club with the same players, how you still have that hand and that capacity to transmit such an energy and willingness to win.”
He added: “It’s a very tough environment that we live in and to keep convincing players you have to be extraordinary as well.
“I don’t know [him] personally but everything I heard about him is that he’s so good at doing that. That’s one of the reasons why you are able to sustain at that level.”
