Diego Simeone aims to climax his rebuilding of Atletico Madrid by winning the club’s first Champions League, on Saturday against crosstown rivals Real in Milan.
The Champions League is the only trophy still missing from Simeone’s cabinet, after guiding his beloved club to the Europa League in 2012, the Spanish Cup in 2013 and the Spanish Liga in 2014.
“Saturday is a crucial day for Simeone. This could be the day when he completes his revitalization of Atletico by giving the club it’s first ever Champions League,” Radio Marca said.
Simeone came agonizingly close to giving Atletico their first Champions crown two years ago in Lisbon. His hard-working team was beating Real 1-0 with just two minutes of injury time left, when Sergio Ramos headed in a late equalizer for Real, who went on to crush weary Atletico 4-1 in extra time.
“That was really cruel for us,” Simeone recalled two years later, while preparing for Saturday’s rematch in Milan. “But our results against Real this season have been good, and we are very optimistic about Saturday.”
Rarely has a football team been so completely transformed, so quickly, by one particular coach. In January 2012, when Simeone returned to Atletico seven years after bowing out as a player, the club was in dire straits, just above the relegation zone and mired in pessimism and frustration.
The “Man in Black” — as Simeone is known due to his choice of clothes — immediately set about restoring optimism and expectation at the club he had helped to the Spanish league and cup double in 1996, as a never-say-die midfield warrior.
Not even the most fervent Atletico fan expected the “Simeone Revolution” to bear fruit quite so quickly, as the Argentine taskmaster quickly weeded out the players that didn’t impress him, brought in fresh-faced replacements - and demanded more effort, commitment and passion from everyone at the club.
Simeone’s defend-in-depth and play-on-the-break tactics have hardly endeared him to football’s purists.
However, even his fiercest critics cannot hide their admiration for a man who managed to steer his modest outfit past European aristocrats like Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“Simeone already knows everything about football, while I still have a lot to learn,” Real boss Zinedine Zidane said four days before the showdown.
Simeone and Zidane have only faced each once so far as coaches, in March when Atletico battled out a crafty, hard-working 1-0 league win at Real’s Santiago Bernabeu.
Round One, therefore, to Simeone, with the watching world eager for Round Two to begin Saturday in Milan.