Arsenal fell to their first defeat under new manager Unai Emery this afternoon courtesy of a penalty shootout loss at the hands of Atletico Madrid in Singapore.
The Spanish side struck first in the International Champions Cup match when Luciano Vietto scored shortly before half time, but Arsenal got a deserved equaliser in the early stages of the second half when Emile Smith Rowe announced himself with a stunning strike.
Neither side could find a second as the match went to penalties, though, and Atletico keeper Antonio Adan was the hero in the shootout with three saves before scoring the winning spot kick.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of Sports Mole's live minute-by-minute updates below.
This will be the first major test for both clubs in their pre-season regimes, and if the quality of the opposition wasn't enough, you can be sure that there will be hot and humid conditions in Singapore to make things even more difficult.
The new season is fast approaching, though, so time is running out to get these players back up to speed!
As if often the case with pre-season games, though, the team which starts this match is expected to be vastly different from the team which ends it as both managers look to give as many of their players game time as possible.
Fringe players who may not have got much of a chance last season - or may have even been out on loan at a different club - have the chance to work their way into the manager's thinking - particularly in Arsenal's case when there is a new man at the helm too.
The most notable thing about Arsenal's starting XI is that a number of their new signings are included, with Bernd Leno among them as he gets the nod in goal. Petr Cech recently spoke of his desire to fight for a place in the first team despite the arrival of Leno, but it seems as thought the new arrival will start off as Emery's first choice.
Guendouzi has perhaps been brought in as one for the future more than with a view to playing every game in the Premier League this term, but this is a good chance for him to impress alongside Nelson and Aaron Ramsey.
The situation over the contracts of Sanchez and Ozil hung over the club for a long time before their were finally sorted in contrasting manners, and they cannot afford a repeat of that with another key player.
It cannot hurt him to be playing alongside the likes of Aubameyang and Lacazette either, both of whom were on the scoresheet in Arsenal's opening pre-season game against Boreham Wood.
Whether Emery deploys Aubameyang and Lacazette in the same team remains to be seen - the early pre-season signs suggest that he might - but there is plenty of firepower there for Arsenal with Mkhitaryan and Ozil in behind too.
The likes of Diego Costa, Saul Niguez, Koke, Diego Godin, Jose Gimenezm, Sime Vjsaljko, Antoine Griezmann and new signing Thomas Lemar - the latter of whom won the World Cup with France - are all unavailable today, ripping a large chunk of the first-choice team away from Simeone.
The likes of Juanfran, Correa, Gameiro and Vietto are also included, so this will by no means be a walk in the park for Arsenal, but it will not exactly be a repeat of their Europa League semi-final from a few months ago either.
The Gunners hit eight past Boreham Wood in what was Unai Emery's first match at the helm, but this will be the Spaniard's first real test against a team who are at the level his side are aspiring to reach next season.
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Unlike their Premier League rivals out in America, Arsenal will end their tour of Singapore after two games before flying back to Dublin, where they will take on Chelsea in their final ICC match next Wednesday.
After that Emery's side will then face Lazio in Stockholm for their final friendly before the real stuff gets underway on August 12.
Victory in that game would, of course, be a perfect start for the Spaniard, but there has been a seismic change at the Emirates and that often takes time to work, so to face a team who last season established themselves as the best in Premier League history is not an ideal start.
Things do get a little easier on paper after that, as you might expect, but their first five games still present different tests - a London derby against a West Ham side that has done good business this summer, an away game against newly-promoted Cardiff, who could still be riding that wave after promotion, and a long trip up to face Newcastle at St James' Park.
There does, however, seem to be an air of optimism around the club ahead of the new season - helped largely by the change of manager, and the fact that new boss Unai Emery has a history of leading teams to success.
The Spaniard is the first new Arsenal boss since 1996, so there will of course be elements of Wenger's Arsenal which take a while to fade away, but Emery is coming off the back of a season in which he won the domestic treble, and he also has a very good record in the Europa League so Arsenal fans may be hopeful of getting into the Champions League via that route this season.
Arsenal were a whopping 37 points behind champions Man City in the end and 12 points off a top-four place, while the cup competitions offered little solace either, crashing out in the third round of the FA Cup and losing in the final of the EFL Cup.
Diego Simeone's side also overcame the disappointment of crashing out in the group stages of the Champions League by going on to win the Europa League, beating Arsenal in the semi-finals before a 3-0 victory over Marseille in the final. It was their third Europa League title in the past eight years, during which time they have also reached two Champions League finals.
Like Arsenal, Atletico will play two ICC games here in Singapore - also facing PSG in this very stadium next Monday - before completing the tournament at home to Inter Milan on August 11, which will be their final pre-season game before the start of their campaign.
Simeone's side will also face Stuttgart and Cagliari between their matches against PSG and Inter Milan.
The La Liga season begins that weekend, but Atletico have been handed an extra rest and will not play until Monday, August 20 when they take on Valencia at the Mestalla.
Atletico will then have to wait until November 24 for their first meeting with champions Barcelona, which will come at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The Madrid outfit were also crucially able to keep Antoine Griezmann despite strong interest from Barcelona, although they did lose two club legends as Gabi and Fernando Torres both left on free transfers.
Pre-season games are notoriously difficult to call, but Arsenal are further along in their preparations and have more first-team players available, so we're going to have to back Emery's side ahead of a depleted Atletico.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Atletico 0-2 Arsenal
That friendly encounter came back in 2009 when Arsenal ran out 2-1 winners, meaning that the overall record between these two sides stands at one win apiece and one draw.
The first leg at the Emirates Stadium ended in a 1-1 draw, although Arsenal will have been kicking themselves at the end of that game, having had a man advantage since the 10th minute following Vrsaljko's early red card.
Lacazette finally gave the hosts the lead shortly after the hour mark in that game, but Griezmann levelled things up with eight minutes remaining to give 10-man Atletico an away goal to take back to the Wanda Metropolitano.
Typically it was Diego Costa - a scourge for Arsenal during his time with Chelsea in the Premier League - who got the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time, sending Atletico through to the final 2-1 on aggregate.
ARSENAL STARTING XI: Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac; Ramsey, Guendouzi, Nelson; Smith Rowe, Aubameyang, Lacazette
ATLETICO MADRID STARTING XI: Oblak; Juanfran, Montero, Thomas, Moya; Rodrigo, Olabe, Joaquín, Correa, Gameiro; Vietto
The angle is against the Frenchman and he looks up for support in the middle before trying to catch Oblak out at his near post, but the Atletico keeper is not fooled and makes the save.
Correa doesn't catch his effort well at all, though, and his scuffed strike is blocked by Mustafi before it can test Leno for a first time today.
Better from the Gunners, though!
Nelson is quick on to the ball and looks certain to convert the rebound into an empty net, but Olabe does just about enough to put him off and Nelson is only able to blaze his effort over the crossbar.
Correa gets down the right and sends a whipped cross into the middle which Vietto meets with a really good header, powering his effort into the top corner. Nothing Leno could have done about that!
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Arsenal, for their part, will be wondering just how they do not have the lead at the halfway stage having created the better chances and dominated possession so far, but it has been a classic Atletico Madrid performance so far.
Arsenal were slow to react to a throw-in down the right, allowing Correa to make it to the byline and whip a cross into the box which Vietto met with a header which flew into the top corner.
The only exception was when Oblak could only parry a Lacazette strike into the path of Nelson, but Olabe's last-ditch challenge was just enough to put Nelson off as he blazed the rebound well over the crossbar with the goal gaping.
Emery will be fairly pleased with what he has seen from his side in general so far today, but he will also be keen to have a look at others as the match wears on. The likes of Sokratis, Mkhitaryan and Nketiah are among the subs today.
The youngster bursts forward into a central position to create space to shoot, but he still has a lot to do and picks out the top corner with a brilliant finish from 25 yards. Adan is beaten within two minutes of his Atletico debut, but there was nothing he could do about that one!
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Gameiro steals the ball off Guendouzi in a dangerous area and it is worked into the middle, but Cech pulls off an incredible save to deny the first effort before a fine last-ditch block sends the rebound flying over the crossbar.
Huge let-off for Arsenal.
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Debutant Antonio Adan was the hero in the shootout, though, making three saves and then producing the best penalty of the shootout to win it for his side, firing his effort in off the underside of the crossbar.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's match as Arsenal fall to their first defeat under Unai Emery via a penalty shootout against Atletico Madrid. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
