When Diego Simeone replaced Gregorio Manzano in the Atlético Madrid hot-seat at the end of 2011, no one could have foreseen the impression the former Argentinian international would have on the club.
Simeone’s glittering playing career included winning La Liga with Atlético Madrid in 1996, but here was a man who had only had brief coaching spells in Argentina (winning the Argentinian Clausura in 2008 with River Plate) and a brief stint in Italy in charge of Catania.
Simeone’s love for Los Rojiblancos was no secret, but was the appointment of a coach with very little experience managing in Europe’s elite leagues really the right decision?
Fast forward nearly three years and after winning a Europa League title, UEFA Super Cup, Copa del Rey, the club’s first La Liga title since 1996 and the recent Supercopa de España triumph, it is no exaggeration to say that Diego Simeone has been a revelation since taking over the reigns.
Saturday’s 2-1 triumph in the latest Derbi Madrileño at the Santiago Bernabeu over crosstown rivals and European champions Real Madrid was no fluke. After more than a decade of being beaten time and time again by their crosstown rivals, Simeone has gotten the better of Real Madrid in the Supercopa de España and Copa Del Rey finals respectively, and didn’t lose to Los Merengues in the league last season.
Other than Real’s 4-1 extra-time triumph over Atlético in May’s Champions League final (Atlético’s first European final for 40 years), the majority of the recent meetings between the two have swung in favour of Atlético. Beating Barcelona to La Liga on the final day of the season at the Camp Nou in front of 95,000 Catalans effectively cemented Simeone’s status as a club legend.
The man affectionately known as Cholo has had to deal with the departures of his star players at the end of every season he’s been at the helm. The departures of the likes of Falcao, Diego Costa and Felipe Luis should have hampered the club’s chances of remaining competitive, but Simeone has continued fine-tuning his team and has recruited well to ensure his departed stars are not missed.
In recent years, Los Rojiblancos have been known as a club who continuously sell its star players. The departures of Sergio Agüero, Diego Forlán, Falcao, Costa and Fernando Torres immediately spring to mind. But since Simeone’s appointment he has continued to add brilliant players to an already talented squad.
Atlético’s midfield core have been together since before Simeone took charge of Atleti, and this is one of the primary reasons why Los Rojiblancos have been so successful.
Twenty-two-year-old Spanish international Koke has quickly blossomed into one of European football’s finest passers, and has drawn comparisons to Barcelona and Spanish legend Xavi Hernández. Accompanied by brilliant Turk Arda Turan, Tiago, experienced captain Gabi, solid defensive midfielder Mario Suárez and Raúl García, Koke certainly has quality players around him who allow him to flourish.
Although Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has finally returned to Chelsea and has been replaced by Miguel Ángel Moyà, Atlético’s backline will continue to remain as solid as it was throughout last season despite the departure of Felipe Luis, who followed Costa and Courtois to Chelsea.
Atlético’s backline this season features the ever-present Diego Godín, Miranda and Juanfran with new signings Cristian Ansaldi, Jesús Gámez and experienced Brazilian Guilherme Siqueira. Los Rojiblancos‘ wealth of experience at the back has already proved to be a key part of their successful start to the season thus far, and expect the Atleti backline to remain as tough to break down as it proved to be last season.
Atlético will certainly have no trouble scoring goals this season either. With Costa gone and replaced by prolific Croatian Mario Mandžukić, Simeone has also brought in young Mexican striker Raúl Jiménez, highly-rated French speedster Antoine Griezmann and Italian wing-wizard Alessio Cerci.
In Mandžukić Atlético have one of Europe’s most lethal target men, and the signing of Raúl Jiménez shows that Diego Simeone is also looking to the future. Los Rojiblancos‘ frontline will be further boosted in January when highly-rated Argentinian youngster Ángel Correa finally completes his move from Copa Libertadores champions San Lorenzo, after undergoing heart surgery in June. The 19-year-old is essentially a carbon copy of former Atlético star Sergio Agüero, and is one of South American football’s brightest young prospects.
Diego Simeone’s side play with more heart than most sides in European football, and the unity within the squad along with the vast array of talent on show will ensure that Los Rojiblancos will remain competitive on all fronts this season.
Placed into a Champions League group featuring Italian champions Juventus, don’t bet against Atlético making a second consecutive appearance in the Champions League final, as well as retaining their La Liga crown. La Liga is no longer a two-team league, and Atlético Madrid are here to stay.
Jayden
Guest
Supported these guys since the Forlan years and every success has been great, hope they challenge for the CL again and break the Top 2 for a permanent stretch of time, they play brilliant football. Ideally Simeone won't leave for quite some time, not sure who could tempt him out of there though. Turan is great, my favorite player for them has to be Cerci seeing as he was my favorite player at Torino who are my absolute favorite club. It was arguably the one transfer where I never felt sad to lose a player, because it was between my two favorite teams :)
rmc
Guest
The greatest match I've seen is Atleti home to Barca in last seasons UCL They swarmed all over Barca's triangles and literally beat them into submission Atleti seemingly moves in packs of four switching from attack to defense with the same group around the ball. This is both unrelenting and intimidating for more structured opponents Here's a different match vs Barca,.. and it aint pretty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoH3XqMvO2E
AZ_RBB
Guest
Had me absolutely captivated at 7am this morning when I'm usually half asleep. I was glad to find your article shortly after. I was hoping some of the people on this forum who often discuss the technical attributes of the game, would come here and comment with their thoughts of the Atleti style. A style which possesses a great deal of technical ability but the X factor is undoubtedly their physical presence. I absolutely love it. But I'm sure many modern football purists might not agree.
rmc
Guest
Yes, true, but I put Suarez' petulance aside for the sake of that article... the author apparently claims that Luis Suarez is now Maradona's "spiritual heir" of "bronca" and seemingly deriding the "hopelessly mollycoddled" Messi (king) and Ronaldo (queen) of football. I'm sure Mourinho gave Atleti and Simeone the greatest compliment of all by acquiring Costa.. Indeed a tribute to the return of mongrel football.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I see where you're coming from. But is Suarez pure grit? Or is he a mixture of grit, skill and downright petulance? I know Diego Costa had a similar personality but his was more mongrel than petulance. But there's no doubt Suarez would significantly improve any team he is added to.
Daniel Gartner
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the link mate, that was a great read!
rmc
Guest
Thanks for the great link Allow me to digress... I still wish Suarez went to Atleti, it looks like a better fit, and cement the culture of pure grit that the club represents. Imagine suarez/arda/koke vs the la liga kings and queens. It's a missed opportunity and it says a lot about big money euro football.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Real will miss Alonso, despite his apparent age. They should've learnt their lesson from Liverpool.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Don't wish to take attention away from this excellent article. But I read the following article just before the reading the one above - https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/pitchside-europe/atletico-madrid--thank-you-for-bringing-the-aggro-back-144850178.html Really fascinating look at the changing styles and perceptions of world football using Atleti's approach as its foundation.
Steve
Guest
The thing is with elite sport, is at that level (except for a tiny few) it really is only the small things that separate players and teams. There is also so much talent around the world, that even if Barcelona and Madrid have "the best" players, the next lot still have to play somewhere and they are not that far off the top. This is reflected in the exceptional quality across Barcelona, the two Madrid, Bayern, Dortmund, Juventus, City, PSG, Chelsea...not to mention Arsenal, Liverpool, Leverkusen, Roma, Bilbao and all of the other top players playing for United, Schalke, Valencia, Porto, Tottenham, Napoli, Milan, Inter etc. I would contend that Atletico's defense is as good as any in the league, or Europe. Atleti's midfield is also as balanced and strong as any in the world. Players like Koke and Turan aren't just very good, they are exceptional. The attack is strong without obviously being Messi, Neymar, Suarez or Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema strong. But they still have many attacking options in Mandzukic and Greizmann. They also have one of, if not THE best coach in the business, and play a formation that suits them absolutely perfectly. I honestly cannot see Atleti falling away this year. As I said previously, I think Barcelona have gotten stronger, not because they have necessarily bought the best though (Matthieu, Vermalean, Ter Stegen and Rakitic weren't making many people's teams of the season), and given they were so close to Atleti last season I suspect they will be too strong. It is arguable though that Real are actually weaker compared to last season, so I can fully expect Atleti to push Barca in the league and again make a strong UCL run.
Brian
Guest
ITs a great story but I can't see them winning the league. Yes those players are good but are they the quality of Messi, Neymar & Suarez. I can't see it happening. Hopefully they have a great UCL run this year. I think Koke is something special. Unless La Liga changes how the TV money is distributed Atletico would have to defy capitalism to stay with the top 2 in the long term.
AZ_RBB
Guest
What a club. They keep losing players and keep getting the last laugh. The late UCL final loss was heart breaking even for the casual observer. But they're looking strong once more this season. I kinda wonder how the new stadium will affect them? Some clubs in the past have struggled after building a new stadium.
Steve
Guest
Arda "Leonidas" Turan is possibly my favourite player at the moment. Skillful, feisty, great work rate, vision, teamwork. Has it all...plus the fantastic beard. The communication between him and Raul Garcia (another criminally underrated player) for the winner was superb. Atleti are the real deal again this year. I actually think they have a bit more depth than last season. I think Barcelona have improved more and will do better than them this year, but they could very well pip Real again this season. Real's UCL victory remember came a weekend after Atleti came from behind to capture the La Liga title at the Nou Camp, while Real could rest their key players. Even then Atleti were ahead for practically the whole match until they lost concentration and ran out of legs.