Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid, Champions League

Simeone’s Atletico: A team of warriors in the midst of evolution

Dermot Corrigan and Tom Worville
Feb 22, 2021

Ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 game against Chelsea, the big question around Atletico Madrid is whether coach Diego Simeone has changed — and whether that is a good thing or not.

Recent months have seen Simeone ditch his long-held, rigid, super-direct 4-4-2 for a flexible and possession-based 3-5-2. Atletico have been playing more passes, holding the ball more, winning fewer headers, making fewer fouls and generally playing prettier football.

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This was widely welcomed as Atletico moved through the first half of the La Liga season in record-breaking form. But more recently, Simeone’s team have won just one of their last four games, conceding at least one goal in each of their last seven outings, which had never before happened in El Cholo’s previous 10 years as the club’s manager.

The pretty football appears to have knocked off the harder edges that were so important over that decade, in good times and bad, which is far from ideal coming into Atletico’s biggest game of the season, but it does make a perfect time for a chat with former Atletico captain Gabi Fernandez, Simeone’s former team-mate, then on-pitch lieutenant and now perfectly placed to observe from outside.


Gabi had just entered Atletico’s youth system when Simeone was the driving force of the Rojiblancos team who did the La Liga and Copa del Rey double in 1995-96. Eight years later, they were colleagues in the senior team at the Estadio Vicente Calderon.

“(Simeone) was an example for me. He played the same position as me; his character, his personality,” Gabi says. “We youngsters looked up to him a lot: how he trained, how professional he was. We saw in him the history of Atletico Madrid — about working hard, making a huge effort, sacrificing yourself. You could already see that mark of a coach that he has shown since at Atletico Madrid.”

Their paths then parted for a while. Simeone went back to Argentina to finish his playing career and take his first steps as a coach while Gabi moved on to play regularly for Getafe and Real Zaragoza.

Gabi was the first to return, in the summer of 2011, and the new season did not begin well under coach Gregorio Manzano. By December, Atletico sat 10th in the table, closer in points to the relegation zone than European qualification. Fans at the Calderon were upset with a team seen by many as feckless and not getting the most out of their talents, showing the other side of Atletico’s historical reputation.

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“There was a group which had yet to really come together,” says Gabi, who remains loyal to the coach who gave him his senior debut seven years before. “There were no big stars but there were some big characters and the results were not good. Manzano had not found his team. It was a very difficult situation.”

Simeone, however, knew exactly what to do. “We need to return to the values which have brought glory to this club. We must be a warrior-like (‘aguerrido’) team,” he said at his presentation as manager at the Vicente Calderon in December 2011. “I want an aggressive, strong, fast, counter-attacking team. That is what Atletico’s fans have always loved.”

Many were skeptical, given many fans had been whistling the team for a lack of effort in the previous weeks. However, Gabi maintains that the ingredients were there to build this new warrior-like team — and points to a core of the likes of Raul Garcia, Diego Godin and Juanfran, who were willing to do what was required.

“For me, the secret was that there were many players; most of us had won practically nothing,” Gabi says. “But we had ambition and really wanted to show that we could compete with the best. We went step by step and were able to keep improving, and we started winning trophies. It was all thanks to the union in the dressing room — this hardcore of players we had who, as well as being able to play football, we became friends. And that, for me, was the secret of this time.”

Less than six months after Simeone took over, Atletico won the Europa League at Bucharest’s Arena Nationala (where they play Chelsea this Tuesday) by beating Marcelo Bielsa’s Athletic Bilbao 3-0. They followed that by hammering Champions League holders Chelsea 4-1 in the European Super Cup in Monaco, with Radamel Falcao hitting a hat-trick.

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“We had moments with this group when we felt invincible,” says Gabi. “We knew we were not the best individuals but, as a group, we were the best.”

Simeone used his by-now club captain to make “outsiders” like Falcao and Arda Turan understand what Atletico meant and the hard work and sacrifice that was going to be required.

“I remember two phrases that the boss used a lot,” Gabi says. “One was that the captain can never be seen to fall — you can never let your head drop, no matter how bad things are on a personal level, or for the group. You always have to lead with your attitude, your positivity, and I tried to do that.

“The other phrase that El Cholo repeated a lot was that nobody is more important than the group. Really top players like Arda Turan, Falcao, (David) ‘El Guaje’ Villa could be decisive for us, but the team was always going to be more important than any individual. When they understood this, it improved their performances on an individual level, too.”

Diego Simeone, Gabi, Atletico Madrid
Gabi and Simeone during the 2014 Champions League final in Lisbon (Photo: Stuart Franklin – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

The next challenge was to end their mental block against city rivals Real Madrid. Going into the 2013 Copa del Rey final — against Real at their Estadio Santiago Bernabeu — Atletico had gone almost 14 years and had 24 cracks at El Derbi without a win over their neighbours.

“The night before the biggest games, the boss liked to speak to many of us individually,” Gabi recalls. “I remember telling him that this was the most important game I had played in my career: in the Bernabeu, against our eternal rival, not having beaten them for 13 years. We had a huge weight on our shoulders. It was something huge for each of us, personally.

“Cholo told me that it could be the most important game but he was convinced that there were still bigger games to come. And he was not wrong. He could see the dynamic within the group, that we were very strong, very together. He had convinced people with the work he did and look what they were able to.”

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Atletico went behind early but roared back to win 2-1 in extra-time, raiding their neighbours’ house, and Gabi did not mind in the slightest being sent off for a scuffle with galactico Cristiano Ronaldo with time almost up. They then topped that the following year by going to Barcelona’s Nou Camp and getting the 1-1 draw they needed to win a first La Liga title since Simeone was in midfield in 1996.

“You are going to play for La Liga, the last game, the Camp Nou, against the best player in history,” says Gabi. “So it seemed unthinkable that Atletico Madrid could do it. But we were still convinced that if we kept working as we had been doing, with the spirit intact that we had, we could do anything.

“Even when our best players were injured, and we were 1-0 down, it could not have gone worse. But even still, Atletico Madrid was all about making that effort when everything seems against you, and we showed it again. A victory, really, in the style of Atletico Madrid. That reflected everything that Atletico Madrid means.”

The Atletico team which won that 2013-14 La Liga title conceded just 26 goals in their 38 La Liga games, with their defensive solidity based on phenomenal work-rate, athleticism and discipline from all their players — basically, the same squad which had appeared a disorganised rabble before Simeone arrived were now a superbly solid 4-4-2 in which every player knew their job and put their individual talents at the service of the team.

“The boss always had a very clear idea of how he wanted the team to play,” Gabi says. “In the end, the key for a good coach is that his players believe in him. When you believe in what the coach says, believe blindly even though sometimes it does not work, then, over the long term it brings you success. El Cholo achieved that completely. He is a great motivator, a great strategist, gets the most out of his players. So all of us, on an individual level, improved a lot. That group of players were not the best individually but together, we were able to beat the most powerful teams.”

Simeone’s Atletico had achieved almost everything possible. At Champions League level, they were also capable of eliminating giants like Barcelona, Milan, Bayern Munich and Chelsea (winning 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in a famous 2014 semi-final second leg). But they twice fell short of the ultimate prize, losing the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals to rivals Real Madrid in Lisbon and Milan.

Gabi says that these defeats led everyone at the club into a period of introspection — including Simeone, who was so pained by the Milan defeat that he almost walked away.

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“The truth is that when you lose a Champions League final — two finals against your eternal rival — there is a lot to think about,” he says. “Not just El Cholo; many of the players thought about their future, about whether it was going to be possible to improve on what we had already achieved.

“It made him rethink things, to see if he was capable of lifting the team once again after another lost final. He realised that he could not let down those players who had given everything, those fans who were still hoping. He wanted to lift up the team again and keep winning things.”


After that second Champions League final defeat, a feeling of reflection started a rebuilding process, which did not go exactly as many at Atletico had hoped. Everyone around the club also had to deal with leaving their beloved crumbling Vicente Calderon for the shiny but impersonal Wanda Metropolitano, a move which was especially difficult for a team who drew so much from the connection with their fans. Again, Chelsea enter the story — as the first UCL game at the new stadium was a 2-1 defeat to Antonio Conte’s team in September 2017.

“There were a lot of changes very quickly. Above all, for the fans — they lost their routine for each game; a new stadium,” Gabi says. “We players on the pitch had to try and transmit our spirit, our attitude, to battle, work harder than ever. Bit by bit, although it is not easy, we achieved this atmosphere, which unites us and helps us again in the biggest games.”

Through this process, the team seemed continually in transition. Gabi left for Qatari side Al-Sadd in the summer of 2018, after 413 games in a Rojiblancos shirt, while fellow veterans Garcia, Juanfran and Godin also moved on. Many of those who were supposed to take their place — including Antoine Griezmann, Lucas Hernandez and Rodri — turned out to be just passing through. New-look Atletico teams were not coming close to challenging for a La Liga title. While they did win the Europa League in 2018, and beat Real to win another European Super Cup, it seemed to many that Atletico were no longer competing for the very biggest prizes.

Gabi says that Simeone has always known that players leaving is a part of life at his club.

“All players have the right to play for the team they want to,” he says. “Great players like Griezmann, Lucas Hernandez — before that players like Falcao, Villa, Garcia — we have to thank them for what they have done for Atletico Madrid and wish them the best for the future.

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“Atletico Madrid does not have to plead with anybody to play for them. If they are at Atletico Madrid, it has to be because they want to be there, because they want to make the team greater. If they do not want to be there, then no problem: thanks for what you have done and another top player will come to replace you. That is not a big deal.”

The summer of 2019 brought another big turnover of personnel — with the arrivals of talented players but not obvious “Cholo” warriors, including €127 million starlet Joao Felix, Marcos Llorente, Mario Hermoso and Kieran Trippier.

While they did return to their old backs-against-the-wall attitude to defeat Liverpool in the Champions League last 16, an attempt to find a new way of playing led to what Gabi calls an “adaptation process”, with other talented but not always effective players like Thomas Lemar and Yannick Carrasco just not fitting in. They were never in contention to win La Liga and exited the Champions League limply to RB Leipzig in the quarter-finals.

“Last season, it was difficult. It took time to convince these players that they had to work hard, that it was good for them, that it could help the team and make them better players too,” Gabi says. “This year, we have seen the improvement in all the players and the explosion. They have seen that working hard, running hard for the team, also brings them personal benefits. That is what is being shown now.”

The only on-pitch connection now to the 2013-14 team is current club captain Koke, who Gabi says now has the same job of transmitting the Atletico values that he once had.

“Koke has become my little brother,” he says. “When I returned to Atletico Madrid and was captain, I saw this kid with an uncommon talent, 19 years old, who just wanted to learn and improve. Bit by bit, he has become a complete player and as the club captain, he has to lead the group, as he is doing. There is no better captain than Koke for Atletico Madrid, nobody better to express what an Atletico Madrid player has to be.”

Meanwhile, Gabi himself has also been moving forward and developing. His coach during his two seasons at Al-Sadd was former Barcelona captain and talisman Xavi, whose possession-based approach was very different to how Gabi had been playing under Simeone at Atletico.

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“For me, the idea of Xavi and Simeone, is the same: to look for what will bring them success,” Gabi says. “Xavi has had success having 70 or 80 per cent possession in a game, El Cholo has had success with 30 or 40 per cent. Each one exploits or protects, or defends the version that has worked for them. A captain is there to adapt himself and believe in what the coach tells him and the team. Xavi told me some things, which I believed in and I could see they were working. El Cholo told me very different things but they also worked.”

Currently taking his coaching badges, learning English and open to suggestion about his next step in football, Gabi reflects that the best managers in the game have to be always open to evolving their approach.

“For sure, in the end, coaches have to be very open to listening and learning about other ways of playing,” he says. “It might be that you do not believe in other ideas; more that you never had the chance to work that way. I believe it is like that, that coaches have to keep opening their minds further based on results they have, and where they see they can improve their teams.”


This season’s new-look Atletico team is proof that Simeone has kept an open mind. Atletico are still not exactly playing with the possession-based purity that Xavi might one day get a chance to put into practice back at Barcelona. However, the difference in approach from El Cholo has been striking.

The Atletico team in which Gabi was Simeone’s on-pitch lieutenant was known for sitting deep and soaking up pressure before striking on the break. The team with Koke holding the midfield lines up in a 3-5-2 actually wants to dominate possession of the ball and spend as much time as possible in the opposition half of the pitch.

“They are playing with a different system, from a different base,” Gabi says. “The players are much more attacking. They have more offensive talent and the boss has known very well how to get the most out of each player, with their strengths, to get them to perform at their best. So they have changed. They are pressing more in the opposition half, with a different system now; more possession of the ball and getting many more players into the opposition penalty area.”

In Simeone’s first Atletico team, everybody had one job to do and knew it inside-out — even “mavericks” like Arda or Diego Ribas were fixed into set positions within the strict 4-4-2. This year, Hermoso can play either centre-back or left-back, Carrasco has been wing-back, wide midfield and a forward. Llorente has played right-back, central midfield and centre-forward.

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Gabi says that such versatility and strength in depth has allowed Simeone to be more tactically flexible and also better handle the effects of the pandemic.

“During a very difficult moment in football, in life, with this pandemic, Atletico are being the most consistent team thanks to their squad,” he says. “They now have 18 players who are very versatile and have a lot of talent. There are eight or 10 players who can play in different positions. With the players missing during a pandemic, they are taking advantage of that versatility and that strength in depth. That is the principal virtue of Atletico Madrid this season.”

Such strength and depth of quality fed a consistency of results which saw Atletico take 50 points from their first 19 games of the season, matching the record total ever set by Gabi’s side in 2013-14, with born warrior Luis Suarez fitting in perfectly up front. Along with regular stumbles from Real Madrid and Barcelona, such form saw Atletico build what seemed an uncatchable seven-point lead with two games in hand just a month ago.

The last few weeks have brought a change, with injuries and COVID-19 enforced absences causing problems. The statistics also show that even when they were flying before Christmas, Atletico were arguably riding their luck.

Attack-wise they scored marginally more on a per-game basis compared to the side in 2013-14 but that was largely powered by some excellent finishing from Luis Suarez (16 goals from 10.7 xG) and Marcos Llorente (eight goals from a baffling 1.6 xG). This team shoots less and the average chance quality is lower, too.

It’s a similar story defensively. Atletico have conceded fewer goals but again, they are getting lucky. Compared to the last Atletico title-winning side, they aren’t conceding more shots but they are of far higher average quality. Current goalkeeper Jan Oblak is a large reason for that gap between goals and expected goals. Oblak has conceded just 12 non-own-goals from chances worth 16.4 xGoT (expected goals on target), a model that considers where the shot is taken from, the goalkeeper’s position at the time of the shot and various other factors.

Looking at the xG for and against as a trend, it’s notable how Atletico’s attack has slid during the last few rounds of fixtures. They were playing as good as any Simeone side in recent memory at the start of the season but with so many players missing recently, the numbers have regressed back to where you’d expect them to be — trying to keep things extremely tight at the back and nick a win.

Atletico Madrid, xG

That has not been working out so well. Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Levante means Atletico have dropped as many points in La Liga in the last 12 days as in the previous four months. Gabi says that it was never really realistic that Atletico would sail serenely to the Spanish title.

“Each game in the second half of the season is very difficult,” he says. “Each team has their own objectives in each game — whether battling against relegation, qualifying for Europe. And we know we are still in the middle of the season. The most difficult part is yet to come.”

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The Champions League perspective has also swung around radically since Atletico and Chelsea were paired together in the last-16 draw in December. Just as Simeone’s side have started to wobble domestically, Chelsea’s Premier League form picked up when Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as manager in mid-January. Gabi says that the tie is now too close to call.

“We know that in the Champions League, over two games, Atletico Madrid can beat any team,” he says. “But also that one bad night and you can be out.”

Still the overall outlook for Rojiblancos fans remains positive, Gabi believes, as Simeone’s current team are able to combine a more proactive approach with the club’s traditional hard-working values.

“We just have to go along step by step,” he says. “Every player is performing at a very high level. Anyone can have a bad day but all the players are consistently playing at their best. Through the history of Atletico Madrid, whatever is achieved has always come from that effort, sacrifice. If you fall, you get back up again. When that is within a group of players with so much ambition and at a high level, then you can achieve anything.”

And now, just as at other key moments over Simeone’s decade in charge, Chelsea provide a key test. The first rock-solid team with Gabi at its centre twice beat the Londoners in landmark occasions while a transitional side were humbled at home four seasons ago. How things go over the two legs this time around will tell a lot about whether a new Atletico capable of coming together to beat the best has really arrived.

The answer to the question posed by Atletico’s performances so far in 2020-21 is clear for Gabi: no matter how things go over the remainder of the campaign, El Cholo is still El Cholo, and still the coach who understands Atletico Madrid better than anyone else.

“More than Simeone has changed, it is the group of players who are different,” he says. “He has known how to adapt very well to these players. In the end, the boss still sees football in the same way, that it is about competing day to day, looking to find better solutions depending on the team you are playing against. And for me, Atletico Madrid today is a very, very complete team.

“These days, you enjoy watching Atletico Madrid play and you feel identified with the team you are watching.”

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: The Athletic)

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