Atletico Madrid make ‘official complaint’ against Arsenal to UEFA

Atletico Madrid have made an ‘official complaint’ against Arsenal to Champions League organisers UEFA after encountering a problem at the Emirates Stadium.

Diego Simeone’s side trained at Arsenal’s stadium in north London on Monday evening ahead of Tuesday’s much-anticipated Champions League group game.

But La Liga giants Atletico were left ‘surprised’ and ‘angered’ by the lack of hot water available at the stadium and informed UEFA to ‘acknowledge the anomalous situation’.

Spanish outlet Marca says Atletico Madrid reported the issue to Arsenal officials before their training session started at 6.45pm.

However, the problem persisted by the time Atletico wrapped up their brief session at 7.15pm, meaning the players had to return to their London hotel before showering.

Marca say Atletico’s management were baffled why the Emirates Stadium, one of the best grounds in England, would be lacking hot water.

When approached by the Spanish publication, Arsenal acknowledged the error and said the hot water supply was restored by 7.25pm, shortly after the Atletico squad had left.

The Premier League leaders also offered an apology to Atletico Madrid ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League showdown.

Arsenal are not only top of the Premier League but joint-top of the Champions League with two wins from two.

Atletico are currently 10th out of 36 teams having followed up an agonising defeat to Liverpool with a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ahead of the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta paid tribute to Simeone, who has been in charge of Atletico for 14 years.

‘I think what he’s done since he got to Atletico has been outstanding, not only what he has achieved but the way he’s done it,’ Arteta said.

‘I think the identity that he has created to the club, to the team, the spirit, I think they are very simple and clear to identify and that’s because the manager is very much them.

‘And that’s extremely difficult to achieve for a short period of time and to do it for 14 years, I think he’s been there now, he’s done something incredible so yeah, a pleasure to meet him.’

Arteta expects a tough test for his Arsenal side, who have beaten Olympiakos and Atletico’s La Liga rivals Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League so far this season.

‘First of all, look at their willingness to win,’ Arteta added. ‘You can sense that in every single ball, in every single yard, the way they play, so it’s about how they compete and then after how they play.

‘I think there are two very different things, and in order to have to analyse what they are, the level of organisation is really high, the level of discipline is really high.

‘And then they have acquired a lot of talent throughout the years that are very specific for the needs and the way they want to play and they are very, very good at exploiting those opportunities.

‘They have evolved as well as a team from where they were probably a year ago to now, and how they can change in relation to the context of the match, which is something very specific for this team.

‘In order to prepare in the best way, you want to give [the players] everything, but be able to simplify the information and make it as concrete and as clear as possible for us being in the best position to implement what we want to do tomorrow.’

One of Atletico Madrid’s key players at the Emirates Stadium will be Julian Alvarez, who played against Arsenal regularly at his former club Manchester City.

‘They’re a great team that’s been doing very well,’ Alvarez said of the Gunners. ‘They have a great coach and great players.’

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