Football’s most prestigious trophies are not lifetime achievement awards. If they were, Mikel Arteta and Diego Simeone may see a glint of silverware in spring. Arteta’s three consecutive second-place finishes in the Premier League and back-to-back semi-finals in the Champions League can lend themselves to the idea he deserves to win a major prize. But so does the man in the opposite dugout at the Metropolitano.
Along with Massimiliano Allegri, Simone Inzaghi and Albert Batteux, Diego Simeone is in the select group who have reached two Champions League finals but won none. Only one manager has taken charge of more games in the competition without winning it: Arsene Wenger. And if that explains why Arsenal and Atletico Madrid are arguably the two biggest clubs – in the modern environment, anyway – to never become European champions, there is a chance for one to change that.
The odds may be that it isn’t Simeone. Atletico Madrid, a distant fourth in LaLiga, who came 14th in the Champions League’s initial phase, who were beaten at home by Bodo/Glimt, who have, including a penalty shootout, lost seven of their last nine games in all competitions, are few people’s idea of the best team in Europe.
Nor is this the definitive Simeone side; they have less snarling defiance, less defensive obduracy. But they are three games from the crowning glory of a stay of extraordinary longevity. It is why Simeone is sometimes compared to Wenger; each built teams and a stadium and, given the significance of annual Champions League revenues, the Argentinian could be forgiven for echoing the Frenchman’s infamous assertion that fourth place is like a trophy.
An unexpected opportunity emerged for Wenger to win a last Premier League in 2015-16; Arsenal did not take it. Now, amid Barcelona’s red cards and Tottenham’s mistakes, a route has opened up for Atletico.
For the first time in Simeone’s reign, they have gone further than Real in the Champions League; indeed, Real knocked their rivals out five times, including in the 2014 and 2016 finals. It was only Real who stopped the classic Simeone side from being officially Europe’s finest.
This is a very different Simeone team. That could be interpreted as a sign that he has mellowed or changed or that his powers are fading. Certainly Atleti are not the byword for frugality they were. This team have conceded 18 in their last nine games in all competitions, 34 in 18. Atleti had the worst defensive record of the top 16 finishers in the Champions League group phase.
But they have been prolific. Atleti’s 34 goals this season in the Champions League have been bettered only by Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich; it is more than Manchester City and Inter got between them. In a different format, Atleti only scored 17 in the 2015-16 Champions League when they reached the final. Now they have played four games against English clubs this season. The scores have been 2-3, 0-4, 5-2 and 2-3.
It may seem a strange world if Simeone’s Atleti have been reinvented as the great entertainers. But perhaps, a decade ago, they were defined by what they were not and could not be. In a world of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Atleti could not outscore Barcelona and Real; but they could defend better.
But Simeone has always liked a No 9; he often has multiple centre-forwards. He bought Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth in the same summer. He has also embraced wingers, in the January buy Ademola Lookman and his son Giuliano.
If previous Atletico teams were built from the back, this one may start from the front, with Antoine Griezmann’s influence apparent. That the Frenchman, first bought by Simeone at 23, soon to leave at 35, is going underlines that Simeone has lasted a footballing lifetime in Madrid. The captain Koke remains and predates him; he has made a record 733 appearances for Atleti, 699 of them for Simeone. But some of the other stalwarts of the two Champions League finals, such as Diego Godin and Juanfran, are names from another era.
Is Simeone an anachronism or timeless? He still dresses like an extra from Goodfellas. He still gets sent off, even if his red card in the 2014 final had a difference from his September dismissal at Anfield, when he said he waded into the crowd because he was insulted. His subsequent explanation felt like Simeone showing his sensitive side; so, too, his emotional tribute to Griezmann in their press conference before the Barcelona tie.
Every season can bring the suggestion it should be Simeone’s last; after all, none of his six previous jobs lasted more than 60 games and he is approaching 800 with Atletico. But he turned 56 on Tuesday, not the 68 Wenger was when Arsenal pensioned him off, and the Argentinian’s touchline antics can make him seem younger.
Maybe it is hard to envisage anyone else managing Atleti, but he still feels the best candidate. Or maybe the fact that Apollo Sports Capital became majority owners last year could bring seismic change; there are times when it seems Simeone’s best days are behind him. Now, suddenly, there is the potential the finest of all lies in Budapest at the end of this month.
Winning the Champions League would be a reward for what amounts to an astonishing body of work. Maybe, too, it might see some neutrals cheering on Atletico. If so, Diego Simeone may have completed an unlikely journey from prince of darkness to international treasure.