Diego Simeone: Tactical dinosaur or still Atletico Madrid's man with the magic touch?

As an aggressive, hard-running midfielder who could also play, Simeone helped Atletico win a domestic double in 1996. However, they wouldn't be crowned champions of Spain again until he returned as coach - which only serves to highlight his colossal importance to the club. There's also no overstating the significance of Atleti's 2013-14 Spanish title triumph; it ranks as one of the greatest coaching achievements in football history.

Nobody other than Real Madrid or Barcelona had won La Liga for 10 years, while Simeone had taken over an Atletico team that had just been eliminated from the Copa del Rey by third-tier Albacete. Just over two-and-a-half-years later, they finished top of the Primera Division, three points ahead of the Barca of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's Madrid - while at the same time reaching the final of the Champions League without losing a game.

"This is incredible, a joy that cannot be expressed in words. Today will be one of the most important days in the history of the club," Simeone said after clinching the title with a 1-1 draw with title rivals Barca on the final day of the season. "I want to thank the players and the people who have always believed in us. There is no substitute for hard work."

Unfortunately, Atleti's overstretched squad were running on empty by the tail end of the campaign, and would go on to suffer a heart-breaking extra-time collapse against Real in the Champions League final, but, against Barca, their remarkable resilience had been there for all to see.

Despite going a goal down, and losing both Diego Costa and Arda Turan to injury, the visitors drew level through Diego Godin early in the second half before producing a heroic rearguard action that ended up drawing a round of applause from the Camp Nou crowd.

"This team never gives up," Atleti's former Barca forward David Villa enthused. "We started with everything going against us, but the team responded and we played like we have all year. We're a band of warriors" but 'Cholo' is the key, the person we all turn to for inspiration."

Indeed, Simeone had become the symbol of the side. Players came and went at Atleti - the team that reached the 2016 Champions League final was very different to the one beaten in Lisbon two years previously - but the coach remained a constant, meaning Atletico never lost any of their famed intensity.

"Talent is important," Arsenal's former Atletico sporting director, Andrea Berta, once said. "But without the right mentality to play for Diego, a player can't succeed at Atletico."

Joao Felix is the perfect example of a high-profile signing that arrived at Atleti with the wrong mentality - but the forward's failure also highlighted the difficulty Simeone has had in recent years in trying to add more flexibility, fluidity and flair to his team's play without negatively impacting their overall strength and solidity in defence. For example, when the Rojiblancos won the title in 2013-14, they did so by keeping 20 clean sheets and requiring very little possession.

"We used the counter-attack," midfielder Koke told ESPN. "We defended, sometimes high and sometimes low. We dominated without the ball." It was a similar story when Atletico won the title again in 2021; they scored just 67 goals but conceded only 25.

However, Simeone admitted in 2023 that the game had changed. "I think about Godin and that generation," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "Today, they would be overwhelmed in how they played. Everything is much quicker and I have also had to refresh my methods as a coach."

And he's certainly tried to do so - just without any tangible success... to date, at least.

Comparisons have been drawn between Simeone and the coach he's going up against in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg at the Metropolitano, Mikel Arteta, but the idea that has been bandied about in some quarters that the Spaniard is doing a similarly impressive job at the Emirates is not just inaccurate, it's offensive.

By the seventh year of Simeone's reign, he'd already broken the Clasico duopoly in La Liga, won two Europa Leagues and reached the Champions League final twice - and without being given more than £1 billion to spend.

However, he does have at least one thing in common with Arteta, in the sense that he's also under pressure because of his tactics and lack of silverware despite significant backing in the transfer market. The 2020-21 Liga title is Simeone's last piece of silverware with Atleti, and when asked after this month's shock Copa del Rey final loss to Real Sociedad if he had a message for the club's increasingly frustrated fans, Cholo replied, "The fans need wins, not messages."

Wins have become worryingly hard to come by in recent weeks. Saturday's 3-2 victory over Athletic Club was Atleti's first in La Liga for more than a month, after four consecutive defeats.

It was clear during that run that Atleti were prioritising the cup competitions, with a place in La Liga's top four effectively guaranteed, but that only made the Copa del Rey final loss to Sociedad all the more disappointing.

Of course, the gruelling second leg of Atleti's Champions League quarter-final upset of Barca had undoubtedly taken a lot of Simeone's players but, to his credit, the coach didn't even attempt to make any excuses for what was a disjointed display in Seville.

"We’re not victims of anything," Simeone said. "They deserved to win, and life is about accepting the situations that arise, learning along the way, and staying focused on our goal. We have to look ahead, follow our path, and pursue what we want in only one way: by working."

The fear among the fans, though, is that Atleti are running out of steam at precisely the wrong time - for the second consecutive season - and that's resulted in some fingers being pointed at Simeone.

Atleti have spent approximately €190 million (£165m/$220m) in each of the past two summers and now risk having nothing but Champions League qualification to show for their efforts. With Simeone's contract expiring in 2027 and the club's new majority shareholders, Apollo Sports Capital, reportedly unsure of whether to offer him an extension, there is a feeling that we're approaching the end of the most successful era in the club's history.

Nothing has been decided as of yet, though, and the next week could have a monumental impact on how Simeone's tenure is viewed - and what happens next.

The narrative has already been set before this week's Champions League semi-finals. Whereas Paris Saint-Germain's meeting with Bayern Munich is considered unmissable, the fear is that Atletico Madrid against Arsenal could be unwatchable. But Simeone's Atleti could very easily flip the script.

The Rojiblancos may still have a reputation for dogged defending and dark arts, but they've actually been one of the more unpredictable teams in this season's Champions League and their games have been full of goals. Indeed, Atleti haven't been involved in a single scoreless draw, while they've managed just one clean sheet - and that was against 10-man Barcelona at Camp Nou.

In Julian Alvarez, Simeone is also in possession of one of the finest forwards in the world, while the multi-talented Antoine Griezmann is eyeing a fairy-tale finish to his Atleti career, Ademola Lookman has added a whole new dimension to the attack since his January arrival from Atalanta, and Alexander Sorloth has repeatedly popped up with important goals.

A first Champions League semi-final in nine years, thus, represents a glorious opportunity for Simeone to show the world that both he and Atleti have evolved; that they've belatedly adapted to the modern game.

They're undoubtedly the underdogs against an Arsenal side that looks a bit like a younger and stronger version of Simeone's old title-winners, but victory would secure him an unexpected third crack at Champions League glory - and dismiss any doubt over his status as one of the finest coaches the game has ever seen.