Arsenal apologise after hot water failure leaves Atletico without showers
By BBC, October 21, 2025Arsenal have apologised to Atletico Madrid after a hot water failure at Emirates Stadium left the Spanish side heading to their hotel for showers following a training session.
UEFA rules allow visiting teams to train in the home stadium the night before Champions League matches.
Diego Simeone’s side were training before the two sides meet in the league phase of the competition on Tuesday night.
The Atletico Madrid staff alerted Arsenal that there was no hot water in their dressing room at 18:45 BST, with the Gunners realising there was a similar issue in the home dressing room too.
The team were due to finish training at 19:30 but finished 15 minutes early and decided to travel back to their team hotel instead.
Spanish newspaper Marca, externally reported that the Atletico squad were ‘angry’ with the situation.
Arsenal apologised to the Atletico Madrid staff for the inconvenience caused, with the issue eventually resolved at 19:25.
Mikel Arteta’s side have won their opening two Champions League games without conceding a goal.
Atletico were beaten 3-2 at Liverpool but responded with a 5-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Gunners head into the blockbuster European matchup riding high in the Premier League after winning four of their last five matches and sitting three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the standings.
For the Rojiblancos, a three-time Champions League finalist, Tuesday’s fixture is a prime opportunity to test their mettle against last season’s UCL semifinalists.
Tuesday’s fixture will be just the third meeting between the two sides, which last clashed on May 3, 2018, in the Europa League.
Atletico advanced to the final 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-0 victory over Arsenal at the Wanda Metropolitano in the second leg.
The match is best remembered as the end of former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s unsuccessful bid to lift a European trophy for the North London club after 22 years at the helm.