Diego Simeone suffered his joint-heaviest-ever defeat as the Atletico Madrid manager against Arsenal in the Champions League.
The Argentine is widely regarded as the best defensive coach in the world, and some of the greatest teams over the last decade have found it hard to score against his side.
However, Arsenal smashed four against the Spanish giants on Tuesday night – only four other teams have managed that against Simeone’s Atleti since he took charge of the club in 2011.
Viktor Gyokeres scored two of the four goals, and those strikes would’ve hurt Simeone.
Diego Simeone must be upset with Andrea Berta because of Viktor Gyokeres
Gyokeres was the most prolific striker in Europe for two years before he joined Arsenal.
The Swede scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting CP and was among the best strikers on the planet during his time there.
When Edu Gaspar was still at Arsenal, Gyokeres wasn’t really an option. But everything changed once Andrea Berta became the sporting director.
The Italian made the striker one of his top targets early on, and he got his man in the end after striking a deal with Sporting.
Arsenal are reaping the rewards now, but Simeone and those at Atletico Madrid must be so upset because Berta had Gyokeres on his radar when he was at the Spanish club.
AS confirmed Atleti’s interest in Gyokeres as long as two years ago and claimed that Berta finally got him in the summer – not for the Rojiblancos but for Arsenal.
Watching his team crumble on the sidelines at the Emirates on Tuesday night, Simeone must have thought about how different things could’ve been if Berta had signed Gyokeres for Atleti before he left.
Arsenal players’ reaction to Viktor Gyokeres’ goals speaks volumes
There has been a narrative created by the usual pundits that Gyokeres is not good enough to help Arsenal win the Premier League title.
Before his brace against Atletico Madrid, the former Sporting man had scored three goals in 11 games, the last of which came against Leeds United in August.
That led to a lot of criticism, but what many people conveniently ignored was the amount of work Gyokeres did for Arsenal in every game.
The way the Swede stretches the opposition defence and attracts the centre-halves creates space for the likes of Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Martinelli, and all of them have looked good thanks to him.
Gyokeres’ performances may not have received the praise they deserve on the outside, but the way Arsenal players celebrated his goals against Atleti shows just how much they appreciate the work he does.
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