Arsenal and Atletico at ‘war’ before kick-off as Arteta ‘worry’ paints telling ‘picture’ | OneFootball

Arsenal and Atlético Madrid were embroiled in a “grass war” ahead of their Champions League clash at the Metropolitano on Wednesday.

Arsenal saw off Sporting while Atlético Madrid got past Barcelona to set up the semi-final, which has been billed as the meeting of two beasts following the 5-4 between beauties Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the other semi-final.

Ahead of a game set to be decided by fine margins Arsenal took issue with the finest of those margins as they questioned the length of the grass after ground staff studied the pitch.

They were seen gesticulating and arguing with men in suits – presumably UEFA officials – around an hour before kick-off.

Revealing the details of the “grass war” for CBS Sports, Spanish journalist Guillem Balagué claimed Arsenal believed it was a case of Atlético Madrid boss Diego Simeoe engaging in the ‘dark arts’.

He said: “I need to tell you about the war of grass – the grass war that took place about an hour ago, because the Arsenal ground staff came in thinking the grass is too high; they were not happy with it.

“They asked UEFA to actually measure it. They thought it was some [Diego] Simeone ‘dark arts’.

“UEFA said it was 26mm. The limit is 30mm; it goes between 21mm and 30mm.”

He then asked Alessandro Del Piero if he thought it was a “relevant” complaint, and the Juventus legend confirmed it was, for Atletico.

Del Piero said: “People don’t understand properly because we have this idea of Atletico and Simeone that they are amazing at defence. They double up [on players] and run more than anyone.

“But the speed of the ball when they attack is unbelievable ad look at the strikers they have: [Ademola] Lookman, [Antoine] Griezman and [Julian] Alvarez. All of these guys need the ball and are technically excellent.”

Del Piero believes the complaint painted a telling “picture” of where Arsenal are at after ceding their advantage in the Premier League title race to Manchester City.

He added: “I worry about Arsenal and Arteta bringing this up. It’s a great picture of the moment of Arsenal. They are struggling a bit and need to have a look at every detail.”