After deciding to win the 2020/21 La Liga title, Diego Simeone said: "I was not wrong in my original thinking, this team does have a future! ”
In 2014, Atletico Madrid broke the nine-year monopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga, and coach Diego Simeone had his first taste of league title.
Such a championship coach, to reject all the more attractive offers, to stay in a seemingly "hopeful" team, relying on a "persistence". And this persistence allowed him to cast a second La Liga title in 2021.
More precisely, it is once again the myth of "breaking the monopoly".
After Diego Simeone took over as atletico Madrid, he immediately reached the top of the Europa League in the 2011/12 season, and Atletico Madrid's career began with a championship, but Diego Simeone's passion for football is so great that more than one Europa League can satisfy? In 2014, Atletico Madrid successfully won la liga at the last minute, becoming the second La Liga team after the millennium after Valencia to break through the monopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid, which had been named "myth" at that time.
After the "La Liga final" that year, the trophy was lifted in front of the Barcelona generals, and today's life and death battle with Valladolid, the last mile of La Liga twice, Diego Simeone was under great pressure to walk through, rather than lock in the victory early, rest at the end of the season and other awards. The difficulty of the two championship-winning journeys shows the high gold content.
However, passion is passion. Is Atletico Madrid's positioning "on a par" with Barcelona and Real Madrid? Or is it just the "third force" of Spanish football? This is really worth discussing. Counting, since Diego Simeone won the 2012 Europa League, Atletico Madrid's La Liga ranking has not fallen out of the top three. But the point is that Atletico Madrid under Diego Simeone began to stagnate after the 2014 La Liga title.
Reaching the Champions League final twice and returning home twice, it seems that apart from the 2014 La Liga title, Diego Simeone, who stayed at Atletico Madrid, has nothing to show off. If you want to leave, the four words "discouraged" are definitely the reasons that make sense. He didn't owe the team anything, but he had already paid too much, and it was normal to want to pursue a higher ladder in his career.
The word "persistence" is not only for the team's wishes, but also for the tactical concept. Even though Atletico Madrid did not achieve great success 14 years later, Diego Simeone's general direction of defense has not changed from beginning to end. The 4-4-2 formation is in the midfield, maintaining two defensive lines, and the midfield line maintains the intensity of pressure on the ball carrier. The selection of the front line is technical and shooting, and does not want to arrange too much work, let them focus, and maintain the sharpness of the counterattack.
Since the 2013/14 championship season, Atletico Madrid has conceded more than 30 goals in the league, which is an achievement for Barcelona and Real Madrid to maintain a monopoly and still fail to climb atletico Madrid. Only 25 goals have been conceded in 38 games this season, and the xGA (expected goals conceded) is as low as 32.7 goals, both of which are the top la Liga figures, confirming that Diego Simeone's persistence is rewarding.
In the past 7 years, the main forces such as Diego Godin, Griezmann, Juanfran, Gabi, and even Thomas Parte in the center of the formation have left, but Diego Simeone also knows how to adapt to the times. Losing Thomas Partaire, an all-around back this season, Diego Simeone sacrificed a 3-5-2 formation, a variant of the original 4-4-2 formation. The flexibility of Mario Hermoso and Carrasco on the left and Cork's further move back in position prevented Atletico Madrid's backcourt structure from collapsing completely.
Marcos Llorente's tactical piece of chess, coupled with the veteran and strong Suarez's efficient performance in front of goal, allowed Diego Simeone to win this season's La Liga title with a 16-point increase over last season in the face of a series of years of losing his main force.