Diego Simeone
Image credit: Getty Images
Diego Simeone has heaped praise on Arsenal, describing them as the “best team” Atletico Madrid have faced all season after his side suffered a humbling 4–0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League.
The Spanish side managed to hold firm during a tightly contested first half, but Arsenal came alive after the interval, scoring four times in just 13 minutes to seal a commanding win and maintain their perfect start to the competition.
Gabriel Magalhaes opened the scoring on the hour mark, rising highest to meet Declan Rice’s pinpoint delivery and nod Arsenal in front. Moments later, Gabriel Martinelli doubled the advantage with a composed finish after a dazzling solo run from teenage full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly.
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Viktor Gyokeres then ended his lengthy goal drought with a quickfire brace, capitalising on Arsenal’s relentless pressure to complete a memorable night for Mikel Arteta’s side. The emphatic result leaves the Gunners joint-top of the Champions League standings after three matches.
In his post-match interview, Simeone was quick to acknowledge Arsenal’s superiority, admitting that his team had not faced a more complete opponent all season, despite already playing the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Four goals in 13’ minutes in the UEFA Champions League against Atletico Madrid.
Easily one of the best nights I’ve ever had at the Emirates Stadium.
What a football club. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2nE5WKNSU0
— now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) October 21, 2025
Asked if Arsenal were the best side Atletico have met this campaign, Simeone toldAmazon Prime: “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.
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“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.”
Atletico defender David Hancko echoed his manager’s sentiment, describing Arsenal as one of the elite teams in world football.
“It was a very tough game. You can expect this because they’re one of the best teams in the world right now, definitely,” Hancko told UEFA.
“Personally I was up against Bukayo [Saka], which is always a big challenge. It was close at half-time, we were able to defend their set pieces and they’re the best in the world at them right now. In the second half, suddenly they went 1–0 up, from a set piece. Suddenly in five minutes it was 3–0. It just shows you how good they are, you cannot stop even for one second.
We are really disappointed that we were not able to get a better result and now the 4–0 looks really bad.”
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