Simeone during the tribute for his 500th game in front of Atlético this Wednesday. EFE
"The most important thing about Simeone as a coach is that he transmits positive energy, infects the desire to work, you believe everything he tells you, it convinces you, it takes you to his field, it would have been the best commercial in the world."
The one who expresses himself this way is Juanfran Torres (Crevillente, Alicante; 35 years old), who in seven and a half seasons under his command played 323 games, the fourth in that period after Koke, Godín and Gabi, and ended up captivated by cholismo at its maximum expression.
He was not the only one in Simeone's 500-game cycle as Atlético de Madrid coach, since his arrival in December 2011, an anniversary now crowned with the league leadership.
Filipe Luis (Santa Catarina, Brazil; 35 years old), 273 games as a Simeone militant translated into 23,673 minutes, walks in the footsteps of his partner Juanfran.
From right side to left side.
“El Cholo made us feel like soldiers and we all threw ourselves headlong into what he told us.
As Juanfran says, it sells it well.
It is his way of living football and life.
It ends up making you believe that it is the only way to conquer the triumphs.
He was the coach who taught me the most.
I learned a lot.
Sell the product and convince you of what you have to do.
People tell me that I was with him for eight years and only defended, and I tell them no.
The games that we only defended, we did it with pleasure because we did it together, as a team, as brothers.
It was what made us feel.
We entered the finals as if it were the last game of our lives.
They were not one more.
He is a spectacular coach and I am proud to have worked with him ”.
Diego Godín (Rosario, Uruguay; 34 years old) is another Cholo praetorian.
Second player, after Koke, with more games (344) and minutes (30,196) in the Simeone era, he surrenders to the evidence.
“The most admirable thing about him and what I value the most about the deal we had is that after so many games and years in which we achieved so much, he always found a way to motivate us, beyond the tactical discourse of how to prepare the games.
He always had a great visualization of the pregame.
How to do harm, how to defend ourselves.
He gave us a lot of information.
Then it's football and sometimes it turns out well and sometimes it turns out badly, but in his case it turned out many more times well, ”he recalls.
Luis Suárez, a scorer for a goal
Diego Costa and Atlético separate
Godín agrees with his teammates on the aspect of motivation.
“In the emotional part he had a force that transmitted passion to us.
He always knows how to get the best out of each one.
It is his great achievement, transmitting to the dressing room the ability to push forward, regardless of the tactical part of the whole week.
If a dressing room is not convinced, it is very difficult to achieve goals.
You can win games but not long-term achievements.
And he achieved it for many years, it is one of his great virtues as a coach ”.
Simeone is nine years old game by game until he reaches 500. He has a signed contract until 2022 and an open negotiation to extend it.
“This trajectory means a lot because I came with the absolute and sure idea of taking Atlético de Madrid to the greatest of football.
In my head and in my thoughts, the day I left Atlético as a player, I knew I was going to return.
And I prepared myself for what is happening to me ”.
Word of Diego Pablo Simeone (50 years old).
Of those 500 games, a small choice of five of them can perfectly summarize his management on the rojiblanco bench.
Two titles (Cup and League), two lost Champions League finals and an unforgettable match for sporting and emotional reasons, the victory at Anfield last March.
The last match played before the general suspension of football competitions.
Cup Final. Real Madrid-Atlético (1-2).
5-17-2013.
It was not the first title of the Simeone era, as he had already won the Europa League and the European Super Cup the previous year, but for the rojiblancos beating the eternal rival in their stadium always had a singular value.
And even more so when they came from 25 games without beating the whites and the last Cup they had won in 96… with Simeone as a player.
The image of captain Gabi putting a flag on the grass is as remembered as the goals of Diego Costa and Miranda, headed in extra time, which served to overcome Cristiano's early goal.
Juanfran, now a São Paulo player, has no doubts: “It was the most important game in Atleti's recent history.
We hadn't beaten Madrid for 14 years and from that moment on we realized that we could achieve what we set out to do.
The costume celebration was unforgettable.
It was a turning point ”.
Filipe Luis agrees with his partner.
“We concentrated on San Rafael and when we were going to the Bernabéu it began to snow and they told us that the same thing had happened in the year of the double.
The night before, Cholo and Mono Burgos called me to their room and started talking to me.
I had the feeling that I was not as important at Atleti as they convinced me that night.
They told me that I was a fixture in the line-up and that an Atleti could not be understood without me.
They made me feel very important.
The next day when we got to the locker room he showed us a video of the movie An ordinary Sunday and he was super excited.
That day I really became athletic.
The day we conquered the Bernabéu was the most important day of my career ”.
Barcelona-Athletic.
Last league game (1-1).
5-17-2014.
Just a year later, Simeone's men traveled to the Camp Nou with the wild card of the tie to proclaim themselves League champions.
Barcelona had to win to get to the title.
The game could not start worse for the rojiblancos.
At 13 minutes Diego Costa was injured.
Adrian came in.
At 23 Turan fell.
Juanfran remembers what happened at halftime.
“We could have proclaimed ourselves champions the previous game against Malaga at home and we didn't.
We entered the break and the feelings weren't all bad.
Simeone brought us together and told us: 'We are going to draw and be champions.'
Nothing else.
We believed it and we got hooked up.
It changed our faces.
It was that simple ”.
Filipe Luis remembers that game as one of the best of his career.
“I ran 90 minutes full.
El Cholo prepared us very well.
I felt that we were going to win despite everything Barça had.
Football owed us for the season we had done.
We had deserved it.
We were fine and we knew we were going to have an opportunity and we had to take advantage of it and we did it with Godín's goal ”.
The author of that goal remembers: “It was the feeling of feeling full of everything.
Of happiness, of having fulfilled, of feeling fulfilled.
Only we know what that very long and hard year was like and what it meant to win the League against the best Barça of those years.
We had a really bad time.
Costa was injured, Arda was injured.
Alexis dialed.
Everything seemed black to us.
But that team had a mental strength, a hunger, that took us where it took us.
Now I still see Gabi's center coming and the inner happiness of the celebration even though there were minutes left.
It was impressive".
Champions final.
R. Madrid-Atlético (4-1).
5-24-2014.
With the League in Neptuno, Simeone stormed the Champions League.
Final in Lisbon against Real Madrid.
Arda, injured, was low.
The rest of the eleven was the same as the Camp Nou with Raúl García.
Diego Costa forced to play and was injured in the nine minutes.
Again Adrian entered.
Diego Godín's header goal was valid until Sergio Ramos tied in 93 and then, in extra time, the rojiblanca debacle arrived.
Juanfran changes his tone of voice when he travels through time.
“It hurt me to lose the first one more than the second.
We had it earned.
It was ours, but that goal from Ramos arrived ”.
Filipe Luis had other feelings.
“I felt that we were going to win without suffering.
We scored early, I thought history was on our side.
Madrid failed many occasions, but we found ourselves with a destiny that led them to victory.
Despite the defeat, I felt that this was not going to be my last Champions League final.
I was going to Chelsea.
It was very hard.
When I got to the bus I did not have the dimension of what had happened and I realized everything when I saw them celebrating it in our city in front of our noses.
It was the hardest moment of my career, but it made me grow a lot and understand defeat.
My personality totally changed ”.
Champions final.
Real Madrid-Atlético (1-1, 5-3 on penalties).
5-28-2016.
Simeone still had five survivors from the three previous games (Juanfran, Godín, Filipe Luis, Gabi and Koke).
Oblak, Savic, Augusto, Torres and Griezmann came into action.
Later, with the changes, Carrasco, Thomas and Lucas.
This time Madrid went ahead with a goal from Ramos and Carrasco tied, not without Griezmann having previously missed a penalty.
After extra time, the penalties, and there Juanfran still has much to regret.
“We made more merits than in Lisbon.
We were better but we didn't press hard enough, we had them dead.
They criticized me a lot for the penalty I missed, I had a bad time, but then I said that those two lost finals would make us stronger and that's how it was.
We won the Super Cup ”.
Filipe Luis points out: “It is the most vivid memory I have.
He was coming back from Chelsea.
We had a season similar to 2014 and we reached the final playing impressive.
We eliminated all the champions of his country and lost the final with the only one who had not been champion of his League.
We prepare the game for two weeks.
We were all full.
I came to that game very prepared.
We rehearse everything.
We knew what was going to happen in every inch of the field.
We were superior throughout the game despite going below on the scoreboard.
They beat us in the last penalty ”.
And from that final in Milan, an important point.
“El Cholo was about to leave.
I knew how difficult it was going to be to rebuild a team after losing a second Champions League, but Cholo was and is Atlético's most important player as a coach.
It was essential for us and we let him know.
I knew I wasn't going to get another chance.
I cried in front of my children.
I have no explanation for what happened ”.
Eighth Champions.
Liverpool-Athletic.
(2-3).
11-3-2020.
The 1-0 of the Metropolitan invited to think that Simeone and his people were going to suffer at Anfield.
The coach opted for a brave eleven.
Oblak;
Trippier, Savic, Felipe, Lodi;
Correa, Koke, Thomas, Saúl;
João Félix and Diego Costa.
Wijnaldum's goal forced extra time and Firmino's goal left the rojiblancos out of Europe.
When he painted worse, Llorente appeared, who had replaced Costa in the second half, and with two lashes he starred in an epic comeback.
Morata still had time to secure victory.
It had been a long time since Simeone expressed as much joy as that night at Anfield.
1-0, the most repeated result
Seven titles: 1 League, 1 Cup, 2 Europa Leagues, 2 European Super Cups and 1 Spanish Super Cup.
Games: 500. Wins: 301 (60.12%).
Draws: 118 (23.65).
Losses: 81 (16.33%).
League: 340. 209/80/51.
Champions: 77. 41/20/16.
Cup: 49. 26/13/19.
Europa League: 26. 1/21/4.
European Super Cup: 2. 2/0/0.
Spanish Super Cup: 6. 2/4 draws.
The rivals he has played the most against.
Real Madrid.
33 games (9 wins, 12 draws and 12 losses).
Barcelona, 29 (4-10-15).
Valencia, 22 (12/8/2).
Seville, 21 (9/9/3).
Athletic, 20 (3/15/2).
His top scorers.
Griezmann: 133. Costa: 75. Falcao: 58. Koke: 43. Saúl: 41.
Those who have played the most.
Koke: 439. Godín: 344. Gabi: 329. Juanfran: 323. Saúl 312.
Those who played the most minutes.
Koke: 35,271.
Godín;
30,196.
Juanfran: 27,845.
Gabi: 26,468.
Oblak: 25,013
More repeated results.
1-0: 87 games.
2-0: 65. 1-1: 55. 0-0: 45.
Biggest wins.
Getafe (7-0).
Sporty (6-0).
Granada (7-1).
Guijuelo (0-6).
Goals scored: 831. Goals conceded: 365. Matches without conceding a goal: 260.
