Fifteen years into the job, Diego Simeone has taken stock of how far Atlético Madrid have come, and the message is clear: the higher the club climbs, the heavier the weight of expectation.
Simeone told the newspaper Mundo Deportivo: "In the past, winning was a source of happiness, whereas now it has become a source of relief."
"I suffer now because we have brought the club to a place where we have become more exposed to pressure, with the ceiling of expectations rising to a great degree, and therefore our responsibility has become enormous. Delivering a good season is no longer enough," the Argentine added.
Satisfying the fans after last season, he admitted, will be anything but simple. Atlético reached the Champions League semi-finals, lost the Copa del Rey final on penalties and finished the league in fourth.
"We must reach the final of the UEFA Champions League, win the Copa del Rey, and finish the league in one of the top two positions, in a competition that includes Real Madrid and Barcelona," he explained.
Insisting he still has the energy to lead the side, Simeone confirmed the priorities for the campaign ahead. Atlético will focus on "recovering the defensive solidity that we lost, especially in the UEFA Champions League" while "increasing the contribution of the midfield players in scoring goals".
"I still believe that we are capable of striving to achieve what our supporters want, that is, winning titles. We will give our utmost to achieve that," he said.
"When I arrived at Atlético, the club had not won the league since 1996, then we achieved the title in 2014, that is, after 18 years. We returned as champions in 2021, after seven years. The team must reduce these periods further," he continued.
On his own future, Simeone set no deadline. He is not chasing the longevity records of men like Arsène Wenger, who spent 22 years at Arsenal, or Alex Ferguson, whose Manchester United tenure lasted 27 years.
"I only think about the energy, the strength and the humility that we need in order to be here," he said.
Competing in Spain, he stressed, is a brutal test. "We are at a club that competes with two superpowers (...) We are now in a distinguished place, but the teams behind us want to compete with us."
"At Atlético you must always be fully focused and at 110%, because 100% is not enough to win in Spain. You have to develop every day and not lose your humility, because the teams behind us continue to develop," he added.
Nor did Simeone rule out managing Argentina at some stage, suggesting it could happen "later".
He praised his country's run at the last World Cup and hailed head coach Lionel Scaloni, whose work he called "immense", though he conceded Spain were the better side in the final.
Asked whether he could ever coach Real Madrid or Barcelona, Simeone delivered a pointed reply: "One of them is definitely impossible. As for the other, I don't think so."