Robert Pires joins former club Arsenal for training

Diego Simeone's men were reduced to ten within the opening ten minutes after Sime Vrsaljko was booked twice, but Arsenal were unable to capitalise on their advantage to take the lead.

Alexandre Lacazette scored in the second half to put the 'Gunners' ahead but despite being a man down, Atletico's golden boy Antoine Griezmann equalised for the away team in the 82nd minute.

In one of Arsene Wenger's final games with the club, Arsenal face a tough ask, with Atletico having only conceded four goals in La Liga this season at their home, the Wanda Metropolitano.

Ahead of the match-up, former Arsenal star Pires, who joined in with training before the squad jetted off to Madrid,  told the 'Daily Mail' how he came to rejoin the club in an advisory capacity.

He said: ''A couple of years ago I sent a message to Arsene seeing if I could train with the team and he said 'Yes, of course. For you the door is always open.''

''I'm 44 now and I'm still training with the first team. Sometimes I can give some advice for the players because I have experience. I talk every morning with the guys. It's a strange situation because I'm not on Wenger's staff but it's good for me.''