Diego Simeone makes coy dig at Liverpool after being thrashed by Arsenal

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has taken a subtle swipe at Liverpool after his team's Champions League defeat to Arsenal. The Spanish outfit suffered a crushing 4-0 loss at the Emirates Stadium. This means Simeone's men have endured a torrid time during their English visits in the competition this campaign.

Last month they travelled to Liverpool only to succumb to a heartbreaking 92nd-minute winner from Virgil van Dijk in a 3-2 loss, where Simeone was embroiled in an altercation with supporters. Despite encountering Liverpool this season, Simeone has declared that Arsenal represent the "best team" his squad have encountered.

Speaking after the match, Simeone made his views on the Gunners' display abundantly clear.

"Yes, I'd say the best team we've faced this team," he told Amazon Prime, via a translator, when asked if Arsenal were the strongest team he has come up against 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."

Following a scoreless opening period at the Emirates Stadium, four strikes in 13 minutes saw Arsenal pull clear of Atletico.

Gabriel Magalhaes broke the deadlock in the 57th minute before Gabriel Martinelli netted the second in the 64th.

Viktor Gyokeres then struck twice.

His opener arrived in the 67th minute before he completed the rout 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.

"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 sit at the top of the Premier League table and resume domestic duties on Sunday when they face Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium. The victory preserved their perfect record in the Champions League thus far this campaign.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are seeking to end a sequence of four consecutive defeats when they meet German outfit Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday. They have encountered disruption prior to the fixture with the club being forced to cancel their pre-match press conference due to delays in their flight out to Germany.