Arsenal’s Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with Crystal Palace this week caused problematic implications for their women’s side.
The Gunners host the Eagles on Wednesday night in a London derby, live on talkSPORT, as both teams look to reach the final four.
Mikel Arteta‘s men and Oliver Glasner’s side will do battle in north London at the slightly earlier time of 7:30pm.
But that’s not the only strange thing about this game, as the scheduling actually caused a fixture clash.
Arsenal Women are preparing to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday too.
And that game was originally planned to be held at the Emirates.
But due to the Men’s team being handed a home cup fixture at the same time, the Women’s team had to change their stadium.
They were then left in a difficult situation as their common home of Boreham Wood’s Meadow Park, didn’t meet UEFA regulations.
After being forced to switch, Arsenal confirmed they were having to liaise with UEFA to try and find a solution.
Fortunately, last month, the Gunners were able to reach an agreement that would allow them to play at Meadow Park.
A statement read: “We can confirm that our UEFA Women’s Champions League match against Bayern Munich will take place at one of our familiar home venues for our women’s team, the Mangata Pay UK Stadium Meadow Park, Borehamwood on Wednesday, December 18.
“This follows engagement with UEFA in recent days, who have granted special dispensation for the match to be played there, given the unique combination of factors that required a new venue following our men’s team’s home draw in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.
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“We thank members of our supporter groups throughout this time who offered valuable feedback which was reflected in our dialogue with UEFA. We also thank UEFA for their collaboration to find a workable outcome.”
Another problem had to be dealt with by the club too, as fans had already started to purchase tickets for the Women’s game at the Emirates.
But they offered an exclusive period for those who already had tickets to buy a new one for the new venue.
“Supporters who have already purchased a ticket will automatically receive a full refund and a 24-hour priority access window to purchase a new ticket for this fixture at Meadow Park,” the statement continued.
“This window will open at 2pm on Tuesday, November 26, with tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis (subject to availability).
“We would like to recognise these supporters and their commitment to following us on our Women’s UEFA Champions League campaign.
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“As a gesture of goodwill, we would like to offer a complimentary ticket for a future WSL match at Emirates Stadium this season, or a £20 retail voucher that can be redeemed at The Armoury or on Arsenal Direct.”
Arsenal’s clash with Bayern is their final Group C clash and it will prove pivotal to their knockout round success.
They have both already qualified, but a win for the Gunners would see them leapfrog Bayern and finish top.
The two clubs met in their opening Champions League group stage fixture, which saw the Bavarian outfit run out easy 5-2 winners.
It would have been a fixture fitting of a larger venue like the Emirates, but unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.
As for Arsenal’s men’s team, they are looking to win the League Cup for the first time since 1993.
Arteta has taken his side to the semi-finals just once since his appointment in December 2019.
That came in the 2021/22 season when Liverpool emerged as 2-0 winners on aggregate following a goalless first leg at Anfield.
Since their 1993 final victory over Sheffield Wednesday, Arsenal have made it to the final on three occasions.
But they have lost each time, with the first being against Chelsea in 2007, then to Birmingham in 2011 before losing to Manchester City in 2018.
A win against Crystal Palace would put them another step closer to ending that losing streak.
talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game with commentary coming from Sam Matterface and Andy Towsend.
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