Simeone wins when he wins and, when he loses, he wins – The penultimate Raulista alive

I repeat: how easy it is to be the coach of Atlético de Madrid! The problem is not that you don’t win titles, there are many teams competing for them and, in the end, only one wins; The problem is that a great team like Atleti ends up with a conformist message, and that’s what happens with Simeone, who never tires of repeating that the goal is being achieved by putting the team in the top four. The objective of a team with a 400 million euro budget and the highest paid coach in the world Is it really about being classified among the top four in the Spanish League? Oh really? The problem is that Simeone repeats that message, and Koke insisted on it the other day, because the Atlético de Madrid coach and captain constantly hear it from Miguel Angel Gil and Enrique Cerezo. In this way, without pressure, fulfilling more than enough to remain behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in the League, Simeone, who has been on the mattress bench for eleven years, can become the longest-serving coach in the history of world football because of In the 92 editions of the League, it turns out that Atleti has finished fifty times in the top four, and in some of those fifty Leagues Simeone was not even on the bench. I know, I know… What the club, that is, Gil, wants to say is that if you enter the top four, you’ll secure the Champions League, something that didn’t happen before. Before you could only guarantee your presence in the European Cup if you had previously won the League, but it is un “win win” de manual. Simeone wins if he classifies Atleti in the top four even if he doesn’t win any title and he also wins if he wins a title, and since it’s really difficult to do so badly with a squad like Atleti’s as to not classify the team in the top four, in the end, whatever he does, Simeone wins.

I recognize that the message is so powerful as to hypnotize an entire hobby. Not only is there no one at Atleti who claims to see their team higher up or who demands more of them, but quite the opposite, in general they assume their inferiority compared to Real Madrid and Barcelona and take it for granted that their destiny is none other than to finish always in the top four. And not only that, but the feeling that exists among the athletics is that this last football season has been fantastic when has been dramatically mediocre. Let’s recap: in the Champions League, Atleti came fourth, that is, last, in a qualifying group that included Porto, Bruges and Leverkusen, probably the easiest of all. At least Barça, who also crashed, managed to get into the Europa League, in which they later crashed again, but Atleti not even that. In the Cup, Cholo’s team fell in the quarterfinals against Real Madrid while in the League, and with one game to go, they are currently third. And it is over. Out of the Champions League at the first opportunity, eliminated from the Cup back in January and, since then, struggling to get into the top four, which is what the club asks of them. Mediocre no, the following, but Cholo is the great winner of the year, even above Ancelotti, that the poor man has only been able to win the European Super Cup, the Club World Cup and the Copa del Rey and has reached the semifinals of the Champions League and is second in the League. Amazing, right?

All this has to do with and is closely related to the level of media overprotection that Atleti is given because, indeed, it is transmitted that, while Real Madrid has failed, winning three titles and almost reaching the final of another European Cup , Atleti has triumphed by staying out of everything in January and fighting to be runner-up. Headlines such as “Atlético is already the best team in the second round”, “Atleti aspires to the second best round in its history under the current format” or “Atlético, the best in the second round in the big leagues” pay off my theory that indeed Gil’s mediocre message has penetrated. If Real Madrid does not win the League, it is because they have “thrown it away” to concentrate on the Champions League, but if Atleti are knocked out of the Champions League and the Cup at the first opportunity, it is not, however, because they want to concentrate on the League, but rather because their great conquest is none other than to end up becoming the best European team in all the second rounds. And the people of Atleti, happy. And I, who have a lot of mattress friends, happy for them, sharing their enthusiasm for this great year. Hopefully they get their title this Sunday, I mean it. Even if it is at the expense of Real Madrid. Hopefully the team with a 400 million euro budget trained by the most expensive coach in the world will finish second behind Barça. And then everyone to Neptune. I don’t because at that time I have a hairdresser, but the rest do. A great year, yes sir. Congratulations.