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Diego Simeone, the manager of Atletico Madrid, has subtly jabbed at Liverpool following his team's Champions League defeat to Arsenal. The Spanish outfit suffered a 4-0 loss at the Emirates Stadium, marking another disappointing outing in England for this season's competition.
Just last month, they faced a dramatic 92nd-minute winner from Virgil van Dijk at Anfield, resulting in a 3-2 defeat, an encounter that also saw Simeone sent off and handed a one-game ban after clashing with fans.
Despite having played against Liverpool this season, Simeone has declared Arsenal as the "best team" his side has encountered. In his post-match comments, Simeone didn't hold back on his praise for the Gunners.
"Yes, I'd say the best team we've faced this team," he shared with Amazon Prime, via a translator, when asked if Arsenal were the most formidable opponents he has faced so far.
"Arsenal, they compete so well, they run and they run; there's quality all over the pitch and yeah, well they deserved to win today and I want to congratulate them on that win as well."
The match at the Emirates Stadium saw a goalless first half, but the game dramatically shifted with four goals in just 13 minutes propelling Arsenal ahead of Atletico. Gabriel Magalhaes broke the deadlock in the 57th minute, followed by Gabriel Martinelli doubling the lead in the 64th.
Viktor Gyokeres then added two more to the tally. His first came in the 67th minute before he sealed the victory three minutes later.
"It's a learning curve, we just need to keep improving," Simeone said on the game. "I thought we competed really well to begin with.
"There were two situations in the game that didn't go our way that should have gone our way. And then from 60 minutes onwards, well they were the better team and they deserved to win."
Defender David Hancko echoed his manager's sentiments regarding Arsenal. "A very tough game," he told UEFA.
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"You can expect this because they're one of the best teams in the world right now - definitely. It was working in the first half, we were able to defend, even if they created a few chances."
Arsenal currently leads the Premier League standings and returns to domestic action on Sunday when it welcomes Crystal Palace to the Emirates Stadium. The victory extended their flawless Champions League campaign this season.
Liverpool, meanwhile, is hoping to end a sequence of four consecutive losses when it faces Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Reds' preparations have been disrupted after the club was compelled to scrap their pre-match press conference following travel delays on their journey to Germany.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can read the original story in the Mirror by clicking here.
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