Atletico Madrid forward Kevin Gameiro said he was "annoyed" to be taken off during Tuesday's 4-2 Champions League round of 16 first leg win at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.
Gameiro had an outstanding game, setting up Antoine Griezmann's goal to make it 2-0 before half-time, then, after Leverkusen had got back to 2-1, winning and converting a penalty to put his side further in control of the tie.
However after a Stefan Savic goal gave Leverkusen further hope with 20 minutes remaining, Atletico coach Diego Simeone immediately replaced frontman Gameiro with midfielder Thomas Partey, and the France international was clearly upset with the decision as he walked from the pitch.
Speaking in the mixed zone at the Bay Arena afterwards, he said he had not wanted to come off, but added that the important thing was the result for the team.
"When you are doing well you want to play the whole game," Gameiro said. "I was a bit annoyed but the most important thing is the team wins the game. The boss decides who goes on and who comes off."
The €30 million summer signing from Sevilla scored just once in 12 games through December and January, but said he was feeling much better now with Tuesday's display following his quick-fire hat trick off the bench in Saturday's 4-1 La Liga win at Sporting Gijon.
"I'm feeling good physically and mentally," he said. "We played a great game tonight. It is important for the second leg. We are all important for the team. When I was not doing well, [Fernando] Torres scored some important goals. It is all positive ahead of the end of the season."
TV pictures had caught Griezmann appearing to disagree with Simeone's decision when Gameiro was substituted against Leverkusen, but the Atletico No. 7 played down the incident postmatch.
"The boss knows better than we do," Griezmann said. "To me [Gameiro] was playing well, he was helping us a lot up front with his diagonal runs. But in the end the boss was right as he made two chances and we scored a goal."
Former Argentina international Simeone explained his decision at the postmatch news conference, saying his team had needed an extra body in midfield, and he would have sacrificed his former international teammate Diego Maradona or Barcelona's current star Lionel Messi in a similar situation.
"They were flying after they got the second unexpected goal," the coach said. "It would have been the same with Maradona or Messi. The players should get angry [when taken off], it makes me happier."