Atletico Madrid have added extra spice to their clash against Arsenal by filing a UEFA complaint against their opponents.
The two European giants meet in the third round of the Champions League on Tuesday night at the Emirates.
Atletico have picked up three points from their opening two league stage matches
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Atletico have picked up three points from their opening two league stage matchesCredit: AFP
As is customary in UEFA matches, the visitors trained at the Emirates on the eve of the upcoming fixture.
Being put through their paces in the wet and windy English conditions, the LaLiga side were left incensed that there was no running hot water at the stadium.
According to Spanish news outlet Marca, Atletico alerted Arsenal of the problem at around 6:45pm before taking to the pitch.
Grounds for concern
It is believed that both dressing rooms were impacted with no hot water.
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The Gunners are understood to have resolved the issue around 40 minutes later - before Atletico were due to conclude training.
But Atletico, who initially planned to finish their training session at 7:30pm, packed up 15 minutes early.
And to their anger, the water problem had not been resolved by that point, leading them to file an official UEFA complaint.
Instead of hanging around and waiting, Atletico's stars and coaches had to take a shower when back at their hotel in the capital.
It has been claimed that Diego Simeone's side were left baffled as to how a world class stadium such as the Emirates could be lacking such a basic requirement.
Arsenal have since expressed their apologies to Atletico, insisting the problem has never occurred before.
Atletico were reportedly left furious that there was no running hot water at the Emirates
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Atletico were reportedly left furious that there was no running hot water at the EmiratesCredit: AFP
Former Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher will be looking to make an impression against his old rivals
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Former Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher will be looking to make an impression against his old rivalsCredit: Getty
And while Mikel Arteta is known for his use of dark arts on the pitch, this issue seems certainly one that was unplanned.
It appears unlikely that Arsenal will face any punishment over the problem.
That is because while running hot water in dressing rooms is a UEFA requirement to meet their stadium infrastructure regulations, that only relates to matches, as opposed to training sessions.
How do both teams compare?
Arsenal have never beaten Atletico in UEFA competition, with their only meeting coming in the Europa League semi-finals in 2018.
A 1-1 home draw at the Emirates was followed up with a 1-0 Atletico win in the return leg thanks to Diego Costa's strike.
But it is Arsenal who are the favourites to win on Tuesday, with the club winning both of their opening two league phase matches.
Simeone is looking to once again avoid defeat to Arsenal in his third meeting with the club
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Simeone is looking to once again avoid defeat to Arsenal in his third meeting with the clubCredit: Getty
Atletico on the other hand have picked up just three points from a possible six, having suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Liverpool on their last trip to England in September.
But Arteta is fully aware of the danger Atletico possess, as he gushed over the Madrid outfit in his pre-match press conference.
He said: "First of all, look at their willingness to win.
"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.
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"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."