Diego Simeone suggests Arsenal star who’s barely played this season is actually better than Viktor Gyokeres

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Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano.

The Champions League semi-final clash between the two sides was expected to be a dull affair, but it was far from it.

The atmosphere was magnificent, both sides fought very hard, and there was a lot of drama from start to finish.

Viktor Gyokeres scored Arsenal’s only goal of the game, but Diego Simeone felt that the player who replaced him was better – Gabriel Jesus.

Diego Simeone says Arsenal’s substitutes were better than those they replaced

Simeone was as animated as ever on the touchline when Atletico Madrid hosted Arsenal on Wednesday night.

The Argentine noticed that his side weren’t great for large parts of the first half, so he tweaked things at the break and that worked brilliantly.

Apart from the last 15 minutes, Atleti dominated the second period, but he noticed that things changed when Arsenal made their substitutions.

Simeone claimed after the game that the players Mikel Arteta brought on were actually better than those they replaced.

One of those substitutions saw Gyokeres make way for Jesus, and the Brazilian, who hasn’t even played 900 minutes this season, had a few good touches of the ball as soon as he came on.

When asked if Arsenal can maintain their physical level for the second leg, Simeone told CBS Sports, as translated by Kate Scott: “No, I think they will end up declining physically because obviously they can’t… They have Manchester City competing with them.

“But they have an incredible team. The players who came on were better than the ones who went off.

“They are going to have to put in a huge effort to continue fighting for the league and to compete on Tuesday as well.”

Viktor Gyokeres produced a fine performance against Atletico Madrid

Gyokeres had to start against Atletico Madrid because Kai Havertz was out with an injury.

The Swede was very good, especially in the first half. He created a huge chance for Martin Odegaard after a great run on the left flank.

Then, just before half-time, he won a penalty and converted it powerfully to give Arsenal the lead.

The second half was very different because Atleti dominated the period when he was on the pitch, and he couldn’t do much as a result.

However, Gyokeres should be pleased with his display, and hopefully, he can come up with the goods against Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday as well.