Atletico Madrid managed to record a very impressive win against the favourites for this year's UEFA Champions League title, Juventus, beating them two-nil at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, taking a solid lead to Turin.
Their performance was characteristic of the types of displays that Simeone has urged out of his players during all the years that he has been in charge of Atletico Madrid. They were extremely resolute defensively, and it comes to no surprise that their goalscorers were the Uruguayan defensive pairing of Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, who both performed wonderfully during the match.
It comes to no surprise that the defensive work that Simeone has put into the Atletico team over the years has paid dividends, with them only conceding 297 goals and keeping 218 clean sheets in 414 games under the Argentine.
Simeone has managed to get a team that was consistently challenging to get into the UEFA Europa League spots to a team that has become solid contenders for the UEFA Champions League title. Ever since Simeone joined as manager, the club has won: a La Liga title, a Copa del Rey title, two UEFA Europa League, two UEFA Super Cups and one Supercopa de Espana. Apart from this, they managed to get to the UEFA Champions League final on two occasions, in 2014 and 2016, being beaten on both occasions by Real Madrid.
Being a former player of the club, Simeone is an Atletico man through and through, and knows what it means to win titles with the club as a players as well, winning the La Liga and Copa del Rey in 1995-96. He made a total of 173 appearances for Los Rojiblancos, scoring 30 goals in the process, over two spells from 1994-1997 and then from 2003-2005.
Despite his antics on the touchline, Simeone is a serial winner, and with Atletico Madrid going into the second-leg of the Round of 16 tie against Juventus with a two-nil lead, they are the clear favourites to go through, especially with their impressive back-line that has won them several matches in the past.
Atletico may be more vulnerable at the back away from home, but with Diego Simeone guiding them, they will be motivated more than ever to win the UEFA Champions League, on the third time of asking, especially with the final being played in their own home stadium.
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