UCL: Diego Simeone Admits Arsenal Are the Best Team Atlético Madrid Have Faced This Season

Diego Simeone hailed Arsenal as the ‘best team’ Atletico Madrid have faced this season after his side were beaten 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League.

The European clash was goalless at half-time but Arsenal scored four goals in 13 second-half minutes to pull well clear of La Liga side Atletico.

Gabriel Magalhaes broke the deadlock on the hour mark, heading home Declan Rice’s inviting cross as Arsenal’s dominance from set-pieces once again proved crucial.

Fellow Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli doubled the hosts’ lead less than ten minutes later following a superb run from England’s Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Already in control of the game, two goals from Viktor Gyokeres capped off a brilliant night for the Gunners, who are joint-top of the Champions League after three matches.

Following Atletico Madrid’s heaviest Champions League defeat, Simeone hailed Arsenal as the ‘best team’ his side have faced this season.

That represents huge praise from Simeone considering Atletico have already played Premier League champions Liverpool and La Liga giants Real Madrid this term.

Asked whether Arsenal are the best team Atletico Madrid have played this season, Simeone told Amazon Prime (via Metro): “Yes, I would say the best team we have faced this season.

“They compete so well, their players run and run and they have quality all over the pitch. They deserved to win today and I want to congratulate them.

“It is a learning curve. We just need to keep improving. I thought we competed really well to begin with. From 60 minutes they were the better team and deserved to win.

“We have to put this behind us now and we need to focus in training on the things that went right and we need to make improvements as well.”