Fans have been able to marvel at Diego Simeone as Atletico coach and on the touchline since the turn of the year 2011/2012: physically fully invested, gesticulating, aggressive. But what for many appears to be a personified trademark or a mascot actually has hands, feet and usually a well thought-out game plan.
Simeone now has well over 700 games and 450 victories under his belt as manager of the capital city club. "El Cholo" and Atletico Madrid - they simply belong together.
Diego Simeone: A title collector with a midfield team
However, the actual achievements during his era carry much more weight: since winning LaLiga in 1996, Atletico never once finished in the top three of the league before Simeone. After taking office, the Argentinian led his team to third place in the league in his very first full season. Simeone went on to break the longstanding dominance of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid: Atletico won the Spanish championship in 2014 and repeated the feat in 2021. In fact, they have only finished outside the top four once since 2012/2013.
Under the 56-year-old, the club also won the Europa League twice (2012, 2018) and subsequently the European Super Cup (2013, 2019), as well as the Copa del Rey (2013) and the Spanish Super Cup (2015). Simeone also led his team to the final of the Champions League twice (2014, 2016). In the 2014 final, they were seconds away from a 1-0 win after 90 minutes, but arch-rivals Real Madrid equalised late on to win 4-1 after extra time.
It was a huge blow for Simeone and Atletico, as two seasons later they again lost to Real in the final - this time on penalties. It was tiny details that Simeone lacked twice to hit the big time. The ones he lacked to put him among the greats in his field. Because at the end of the day, it's only the titles that count - and Ancelotti, Mourinho, Pep and Klopp are enthroned there with their triumphs in the top flight.
Atletico: The small donor among the top clubs
One thing to bear in mind, however: While other top coaches usually "sit in the nest" and only coach absolute top teams, Siemone stormed to the top with an average LaLiga team and has now held it there for over 15 years.
Just how significant the difference in opportunities is between Simeone's Atletico and the absolute top international clubs can be seen in the transfer figures: Since 2013, Atletico have had a transfer deficit of almost €240 million (source: Transfermarkt). In comparison: FC Barcelona is more than minus 500 million, even Bayern Munich is just under minus 400 million, Manchester City is minus 1.4 billion and United is even over 1.6 billion.
And that is precisely why Simeone rarely gets the recognition he deserves. Atletico's game is often derided in Germany as "destructive" and "destructive". The question must be asked as to how a team led by Pep Guardiola would play under the same financial conditions. Or to put it another way: how would Diego Simeone perform in a team with even greater financial power?
At times, the possibility of a departure did not seem so unlikely. After the transfer of Joao Felix in 2019, Diego Simeone's legacy was somewhat tarnished. The Portuguese came from Benfica for €127 million and was supposed to finally propel Atletico into the wider circle of big spenders, which also raised the expectations of the club, fans and, above all, the media.
Will Simone crown the Atletico Madrid project in 2026?
However, sporting success in title currency has since failed to materialise. Simeone stayed anyway, but after the Felix faux pas, the club once again tended to be in the midfield of the Champions League teams in terms of transfers. The most expensive signing by far, Julian Alvarez, for €75 million in the 2024/25 season, remained the exception; since 2020, they have only just made it into the top 15 European transfer spenders with just over €680 million. By comparison, the top 7 around Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool are all over €1 billion, while FC Bayern is slightly above Atletico at €695 million.
Instead, they have recently returned to the old tactic of selective reinforcements, such as Robin Le Normand (came from Real Sociedad for €34.5 million in 2024) or Ademola Lookman (came from Atalanta for €35 million in 2025) - and that is paying off, at least in the top flight. In the 2025/26 season, they beat FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals and finished among the top four teams in the competition for the first time in nine years.
To the match centre: Atletico Madrid vs. Arsenal
And Simeone will once again put his heart and soul into the match-up with Arsenal FC: physically fully invested, gesticulating, aggressive. In 2026, he could complete his work after all - perhaps the necessary bit of luck will finally be on his side this year.