DIEGO SIMEONE ISSUES 'SUPERIOR' ARSENAL VERDICT AND EXPLAINS HOW GUNNERS OVERWHELMED ATLÉTICO MADRID

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has been speaking after his side’s Champions League defeat to Arsenal.

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone provided an honest verdict on his side’s heavy Champions League defeat to Arsenal on Tuesday night. The Gunners won 4-0 thanks to 13 superb second-half minutes that saw them score four goals.

Simeone has been honest about his side's defeat | Getty Images

Gabriel Magalhaes scored in the 57th minute, then Gabriel Martinelli scored to make it two before Viktor Gyokeres put the game firmly beyond reach with a much-needed brace after a slow start in front of goal for the Gunners.

The win means Arsenal have made it three wins from as many games in the Champions League, while Atletico have now won once and lost twice. There are still five games remaining in the league phase, so it’s hardly panic stations from Atletico, who did make this a close contest until that wild 13 minutes that saw them slip quickly out of the picture.

"They were superior and very decisive in that part of the match,” Atleti boss Simeone said after the game. “After the set piece goal, things went their way with merit. They demanded our all until the 1-0 lead. The team worked well, ran, and were overtaken by a team that was better."

He added on the key moments in the game: "Julian's (Alvarez) shot went wide of the post in the first half. Small details that could have turned the game around for us. But the opponent is very strong in all lines; overall, everyone runs, and that takes away time to think. Up until the first goal, we were comfortable with the game, and in that 13-minute stretch, they were decisive."

Arsenal opened the scoring through a set-piece when Declan Rice delivered the ball perfectly for Gabriel. "I've always loved set pieces, and there are teams that work them very well,” Simeone admitted. “They have incredible value in every game. When you break the game open with a set piece, you've come a long way."

Gyokeres on his brace

Gyokeres hasn’t had much luck in front of goal for Arsenal since arriving in the summer, scoring three times in eight league appearances, and he has only scored in two league games. But the Sweden international looked like the lethal striker Arsenal want him to be against Atleti, scoring twice, and he was delighted after the game.

“I am very pleased,” he told Prime Video. “They had some good opportunities but I think we controlled it overall. To score four and keep a clean sheet again is very good. We always keep going. We do the things right when we defend and when we get the chances we are extremely strong in taking those.

"Both [my] goals were great. I try to do my best all the time and work hard, contribute with different stuff and the goals would have come sooner or later. We want to do well, we want to win football matches but there's a long journey to go. We will take it game-by-game, even if that sounds boring."

- Jamie Kemble

ARSENAL HANDED QUADRUPLE SUSPENSION BOOST FOR PSG CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CLASH AS UEFA RULES EXPLAIN

Referee Francois Letexier shows a yellow card to David Raya of Arsenal during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg with Real Madrid (Image: (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images))

Arsenal will be without one player due to suspension for the Champions League semi-final first leg with Paris Saint-Germain

Arsenal may have a number of players doubtful for the Champions League semi-final clash with PSG due to injury, but they can be thankful that UEFA rules mean they do not have players walking a suspension tightrope.

The Gunners will definitely be without six players, with Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori ruled out through injury and Thomas Partey suspended for the first leg clash at the Emirates Stadium.

And there are also doubts over the fitness of the likes of Mikel Merino and Ben White, both of whom were spotted in training at London Colney yesterday, while Jorginho has been absent from the last three matchday squads too.

But while there was confusion over Thomas Partey's suspension for the clash, the Gunners may well be grateful for UEFA rules stopping as many as four other players from walking a suspension tightrope.

Partey picked up his third yellow card in the competition late on in the second leg of the quarter-final win over Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu.

Under UEFA rules, Article 52.04 states : "All yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals. They are not carried forward to the semi-finals."

That led to many thinking Partey would escape a ban, but because he picked up the third yellow before the conclusion of the quarter-final, it is not wiped out and he will therefore miss the first leg against PSG on Tuesday night.

That same rule, however, stops four Arsenal players from walking a tightrope to potentially miss the second leg of the semi-final and even the final, should they get there.

Declan Rice was on two yellow cards heading into the second leg against Los Blancos and managed to avoid a third, getting visibly frustrated with Partey after his needless booking for a coming together with Dani Ceballos late on.

Gabriel Martinelli and Jurrien Timber were also walking tightropes in the quarter-final second leg, but came through unscathed. Goalkeeper David Raya did pick up a second booking for the tournament against Madrid in the second leg, but that was wiped out after the final whistle.

Then only way any Arsenal player will miss the second leg or the final now would be through injury or through a red card in either of the matches with PSG.

Arsenal face PSG in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on April 29 and fans can watch it free with an Amazon Prime subscription or by signing up for a 30-day free trial.

- Lee Wilmot

HAMMER BLOW FOR ARSENAL AS GABRIEL IS RULES OUT FOR THE SEASON AS INJURY 'REQUIRES SURGERY '

Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes is forced off with an injury.

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes will miss the rest of the season with his hamstring injury requiring surgery, the Premier League club have confirmed.

The Gunners star picked up the hamstring injury during the first half of their 2-1 victory over Fulham in the Premier League on Tuesday evening.

Gabriel will now miss the rest of the Premier League run-in, while Arsenal are also competing to win the Champions League with a two-legged quarter-final against Real Madrid beginning next week.

Reacting to the injury after the match, Arteta told reporters: “Worried because he never wants to come off and he had to.

“He’s not very sure how big it is and what it is exactly but he felt he that he could not continue.”

When asked if Gabriel will be fit to face Real Madrid in the Champions League next week, Arteta replied: “Depends, there’s a week there but I will say with the way he is normally… difficult.”

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano brought the bad news onto social media on Thursday by confirming the Arsenal centre-back will be out for the rest of the season.

Romano wrote on X: “Gabriel Magalhaes will be out until the end of the season. Gabriel requires surgery on his hamstring injury and will be out until the start next season.”

Before Arsenal officially confirmed the news, the Premier League club wrote: “Further to being substituted during our match against Fulham on Tuesday, we can confirm that Gabriel Magalhaes has sustained a hamstring injury which requires surgery.

“Gabi will undergo a surgical repair procedure to his hamstring in the coming days, and immediately begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme, with the aim to be ready for the start of next season.

“Everyone at the club will be fully focused on supporting Gabi to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible.”

Reacting to Gabriel’s injury and potentially facing Real Madrid without the Brazilian, Arsenal legend Ian Wright told Premier League Productions on Tuesday: “It’s a massive miss.

“It’s just as big in respects of what Saka does for us going forward, then Gabriel going the other way, set-pieces, leadership, warrior that we need.

“I think whatever you say, the drop-off from Gabriel, I don’t know how fit Calafiori is at the moment, but when you’re looking at someone going that quick and pulling up like that, that’s not two weeks, that a month, that’s six weeks, you can see it there, he knows himself.

- Joe Williams

MIKEL ARTETA LOST SLEEP OVER ARSENAL-TOTTENHAM TEAM SOLUTION

Getty

Mikel Arteta has admitted Arsenal's availability problems led him to lose sleep in the build-up to Sunday's north London derby at Tottenham but hailed his team's resilience as they secured a vital 1-0 victory.

Gabriel Magalhaes' 64th-minute header settled a tight contest in Arsenal's favour, with Arteta's team now having won three consecutive away league games at Spurs for the first time since 1988.

Arsenal were without Declan Rice through suspension in addition to injury absentees Martin Ødegaard, Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori.

Ødegaard and Calafiori picked up injuries on international duty while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney were also ruled out.

"I didn't enjoy [the preparation] because I didn't sleep much," Arteta said. "I looked ahead to Spurs for four or five days and I had a super clear plan how to do it.

"I prepared all the meetings, the training sessions and everything. Then I get the news that we've lost a player, and then another player and then another player, and I had to completely change it and adapt the plan to the players that we had available. So, it was a great challenge.

"The second we started to get that news, the team got hungrier and hungrier to play that game. It's a big compliment to everybody at the club to behave in a certain way. It's a tough week coming and instead of finding any excuses we did the opposite. We faced the challenge, played with courage and acknowledged the qualities we had to win the game."

Ødegaard sustained an ankle problem which Norway team doctor Ola Sand suggested would sideline the Arsenal captain for three weeks, ruling him out of Thursday's Champions League trip to Atalanta and Sunday's visit to Premier League champions Manchester City.

However, Arteta insisted after Sunday's game that Arsenal still had to "wait and see" regarding his future availability.

- James Olley, Senior Writer, ESPN FC

RICCARDO CALAFIORI VS. GABRIEL MAGALHAES | STATS

 

GABRIEL MAGALHAES IS OFFICIALLY A GUNNER