02/18/2020 - 20:41
- Clarín.com
- sports
The figure of Diego Simeone, as well as his methods and his style, are permanent object of analysis. Of course, usually within the framework of traditional media. In this case, however, the one who put the magnifying glass on the Argentine coach and his Atletico de Madrid was nothing less than the New York Times, which dedicated the main space on the cover of the sports section and almost a page inside . And that he had not yet won against Liverpool, in the first leg of the knockout stages of the Champions League.
"Diego Simeone's team is bigger than his role as the great irritant of European football," reads the article signed by journalist Rory Smith.
The morning highlights the philosophy itself - the Cholismo - that the coach has created since his assumption in the club, back in late 2011, and his successes both in Spain and in European competitions.
Diego Simeone greets the German Jürgen Klopp after the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League that was played this Tuesday at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium. Photo: EFE
But it goes further and dive into what the coach means for the club and the metamorphosis that both have lived in these more than eight years. “His success has cleared the debt club and attracted the kind of bulky wallet sponsors that helped pay for a new stadium, raise salaries (for players) and hire new ones. Atlético (...) is no longer 'the poor': he has paid for a player more than Real Madrid and his coach charges more than any other in the world ”.
The Times emphasizes the dilemma in which the club found itself by taking this qualitative leap in terms of economics. He explains: “'The heart can beat the budget,' (Simeone) once said. For years, this is how the great irritant of European football competed. Now, he doesn't need it. He helped that eternal alien to tear down the palace doors and be part of the elite. ”
Diego Simeone during an Atlético de Madrid training at the Wanda Metropolitano Sports City. Photo: EFE
There, the article then embarks on what it defines as "God, the result." Review some whistles received by the DT in October, before Bayer Leverkusen. And highlights his fourth location in the League, behind a humble like Getafe, or his elimination in the Copa del Rey against a rival of Second. "In the absence of God (the result), the congregation of Simeone has begun to doubt their faith."
But evaluate that there could be no better rival for this moment. “It is almost a blessing. There is hardly a rival that Simeone would have wanted more. For 180 minutes, your team can be rustic again, uncompromising. You can recover your identity and get into a skin that you know perfectly. The best Atlético is the one who faces the super powerful. And today there is no other more powerful than Liverpool. ”
