Argentine Diego Simeone turns 10 in charge of Atlético de Madrid

This Thursday, Argentine Diego Simeone completes 10 years in charge of Atlético de Madrid, marking a before and an after in the history of the Spanish club.

With the team in tenth place in the Spanish League table and having just been eliminated in the Copa del Rey by third division Albacete, the team was looking for a replacement for Gregorio Manzano. Club president Enrique Cerezo and CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín made calls to Catania, the only European club that Simeone had coached so far, and to River Plate, the biggest club he has coached, to assess his work. They decided that El Cholo was the right person, tactically and emotionally, to burn down the locker room and move the team up.

from tenth to title

Simeone took over a team that was 10th in the table but didn’t stay there for long. At the end of the year, the captain led Atleti to the first of his eight titles as a coach by winning the Europa League that season. Not only did they win the final against Athletic Bilbao, they also triumphed in all eight knockout matches they played to win the title.

Then, they thrashed Chelsea 4-1 in the 2012 European Super Cup, with a hat-trick from Falcão García. That season, the team won a King’s Cup and finished third in La Liga, making it to the first of nine consecutive Champions League appearances.

Simeone’s greatest achievement was winning the Spanish Championship twice as coach of Atlético de Madrid. The first championship took place in 2013/14, when the team from the capital had to go to Camp Nou in the last round to avoid a defeat, which happened after the header scored by Diego Godín, guaranteeing a 1-1 draw against the Barcelona. Simeone’s Atleti also finished first this year, taking the title with a 2-1 victory over Real Valladolid, giving the club its 11th national league title.

records after records

During his career with the Colchoneros, the Argentine broke some records and reached several milestones.

A 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in March of this year was his 309th in charge of the team, taking him past the legendary Luis Aragonés to become Atlético’s coach with the most victories in history. With 551 games ahead of the team, Simeone is also approaching Aragonés’ record of 612 games for Atlético Madrid, and could reach that mark next season.

At the national level, Simeone is already the coach with the most consecutive games in a La Liga club, only behind Miguel Muñoz, who has 417 games for Real Madrid.

transition in europe

In addition to trophies and records, Simeone managed to transform Atlético de Madrid into a frequent participant in the Champions League, winning four European titles under his command, as well as two Champions finals.

The coach placed Atleti in the top 10 of the Uefa club rankings, something that was unthinkable when he took the position.

He talks openly about the club’s growth and the evolution year after year that is also happening off the field, especially with the move from the old Vicente Calderón stadium to the new Wanda Metropolitano.