Arsenal apologise to Atletico Madrid for lack of hot water in Emirates dressing room after training

Atletico Madrid players during a training session at the Emirates Stadium. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.

Arsenal have apologised to Atletico Madrid after their opponents for Tuesday night's Champions League clash were left with cold water after training at the Emirates Stadium.

As is often the case in the Champions League, the away side were given the opportunity to train at the stadium the night before the match to get used to their surroundings.

But what is not often the case is that the visitors discovered that there was no hot water available in their changing room, resulting in the Spanish club making a complaint to Uefa.

Arsenal were informed about the problem, which also affected their own home dressing room, approximately 45 minutes before Diego Simeone’s side were due to finish training.

But Atletico had already decided to finish their session, which was conducted in the wind and the rain in London, early so that they could return to their hotel to shower properly.

Arsenal have since issued an apology for the inconvenience but Marca have reported that Atletico are “incredibly angry” and “don’t understand why a modern venue like the Emirates, and in a tournament like the Champions League, doesn’t have something so basic”.