To understand the importance of Diego Simeone in the recent history of Atletico Madrid, it is necessary to go back to the 2010-2011 season.
Back then, Quique Sanchez Flores earned a ticket to play in the Europa League by finishing seventh in LaLiga. It was an acceptable and reasonable target for a team whose top players were a young Sergio Aguero and an established Diego Forlan, now a Manchester City legend and tennis player who made his professional debut at the Montevideo Open respectively.
On December 23rd 2011, after Gregorio Manzano had failed to lead Atleti to success (they were eliminated from the Copa del Rey and the performance in LaLiga was disappointing) the 'Rojiblancos' gambled on hiring a Simeone, who was remembered for his time as a player during the memorable 1995/96 double but who only had experience in the dugout in Argentina, albeit winning titles with Estudiantes and River Plate.
Europa League, Copa del Rey and Supercopa
Doubts surrounded the Colchonero environment.
However, the Argentinian, hard-working and determined, began to erase that by implementing a solvent structure that soon brought success to the fans.
Simeone, with time, patience and the help of an unstoppable Radamel Falcao, achieved a huge victory in the final of the Europa League over Marcelo Bielsa's Athletic Club and, in this way, won his first title as Atleti coach.
It was the first title that began to transform the team's attitude and competitiveness.
Strong defence and effective forwards
Simeone's first years in charge of Atleti were characterised by a defence that was the basis of his tactics.
Titans such as Miranda and Diego Godin provided security at the back, while Felipe Luis and Juanfran strengthened the defence. Falcao, impeccable in attack, scored 70 goals and provided nine assists in the 91 games he played as a Colchonero.
Simeone, as well as structuring his base with his defence in mind, needed a lethal, effective and aerially powerful number nine.
Falcao lived up to expectations until he decided to leave for AS Monaco in 2013, a year in which the Argentinian coach was surprised by a colossal Diego Costa who was installed in the starting XI.
Although Costa was already starting some games, Adrian complemented Simeone's lifelong 4-4-2 with Falcao.
With Falcao's departure to Ligue 1, Costa settled into the coaching staff's system and more than fulfilled the same duties as the Colombian with an added factor: malice and 'dirty work'.
Falcao left Atleti with his head held high. His role was decisive and allowed Simeone to win the Europa League, the European Super Cup in 2012 against Chelsea and the Copa del Rey in the same season where they beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu - an infamous moment in the city's premier rivalry
A league title and the first Champions League final loss
The first high-profile success of Simeone's career was the conquest of LaLiga during the 2013/14 season.
Simeone made the 'partido a partido' (game-by-game) approach vital, an ideology that allowed his side to focus every weekend on one objective: win, win, win.
Atleti won LaLiga on the final matchday after a 1-1 draw against Tata Martino's Barcelona. Diego Godin scored the equaliser to give Los Rojiblancos the title as Diego Costa and Arda Turan played leading roles in the attack.
In the Champions League, Atleti reached the final where they held the lead until stoppage time when Sergio Ramos scored a header to send the match into extra time. There, Real Madrid played like a train without brakes, taking Simeone's side by surprise.
New era and rebuilding
After the lost final and LaLiga triumph, it was to be expected that Europe's financial heavyweights would attack Atleti's squad.
Felipe Luis and the then on-loan Thibault Courtois left for Chelsea and David Villa left for the MLS, while the board signed a young Jan Oblak, Mario Manzdukic, Antoine Griezmann and Angel Correa.
The season began with a victory in the Spanish Super Cup against Madrid and ended with a spot in the Champions League. In the next campaign, Atleti returned to the Champions League final where they lost to Real Madrid once again, this time on penalties.
Without Diego Costa, Griezmann began to take on a greater role in the team. The French striker has never been short of praise when it comes to Diego Simeone; in fact, he has even said the coach was one of the first to receive a message from him when he won the World Cup with France in 2018.
Griezmann, the star
The Argentine has played a key role in Griezmann's career. He instilled in him his tactics, his demands to drop back, to "always take chances on goal", and even his sense of teamwork.
"It all came about very quickly," the number seven recounted in his autobiography, Derrière le Sourire (Getting to the Top of World Football in English), published in 2018.
"El Cholo told me I was much more than a winger. He also told me 'the closer I was to the goal, the more I will explode as a footballer'.
"I will have to work there for a while to exploit all my characteristics: changes of direction, short diagonals, play between the lines, play with his back to goal and a good mid-range shot. Hopefully, the young, important player that I was will start to develop into a man and an equally important player."
Since then, Griezmann has been able to become a player like few others. A creative player at heart who puts the team first. And that is what has made Atletico, and also the French national team, successful.
Indeed, given that this style suited him, Didier Deschamps seized the opportunity to bring him into his squad and asked his midfielder to play with him.
In coaching Griezmann, Simeone has moulded his player to incorporate his ideas into his game. In doing so, he is leaving his mark on a legacy that is bigger than the club: that of a World Champion and a former Ballon d'Or contender.
Luis Suarez's LaLiga and recent achievements
A top striker, such a fundamental part of his offensive and defensive system, offered Simeone his most recent joy as a Colchonero when Suarez became a Rojiblanco idol and worked hand in hand with a colossal Angel Correa to make Atleti champions of LaLiga in 2021-2022, a season marked by a pandemic, postponements and casualties due to Covid-19.
Suarez scored 21 goals and laid on three assists in a memorable season. The comebacks, the suffering (even on the last matchday) and the clairvoyance of the Colchoneros gave the fans an unforgettable trophy, which also became Simeone's eighth title as Atleti coach.
Time will tell whether he can add more trophies to the cabinet, including the elusive Champions League.