Diego Simeone Right to Defend Atletico Madrid's Style Ahead of Madrid Derby Week

Diego Simeone was in defiant mood either side of Atletico Madrid’s excellent 3-1 victory away to Eibar on Saturday, reinforcing the strengths of his side in the build-up to this weekend’s capital-city derby against Real Madrid.

Simeone's men had been criticised in the wake of their tempestuous Copa del Rey defeat to Barcelona a few days earlier. AS columnist Alfredo Relano had described the second half of that match as “gruesome,” while Barca coach Luis Enrique had been forced to substitute Neymar because the game had got “ugly” and he was worried about his forward picking up an injury.

Atletico had ended the match with nine men following red cards for Gabi—whose second booking came following a scuffle in the tunnel at half-time—and Mario Suarez, while Arda Turan was lucky to escape further punishment after hurling his boot in the direction of the linesman.

But, as per Inside Spanish Football, Simeone made it clear in his press conference ahead of the match against Eibar that his side would persevere with the style of play that has brought them such success since his arrival as coach in December 2011.

"I value what this team has and it won’t change," he told reporters. "It is our essence and our identity. They are three years in playing in this way. If we want to keep competing, we have to maintain this way and this game."

And after a purposeful and impressive performance in difficult conditions, he was in no mood to discuss the Barcelona match in any great depth. “A better team beat us and that’s it,” he said, as per Nika Cuenca of AS.

Simeone has spent enough time in Spain, as a player and as a coach, to know that plenty of mud will be slung at his team over the next week. Madrid players past and present will be asked to comment on Atletico’s aggressive style and will be questioned as to whether or not they consider them a violent team. Video evidence of previous indiscretions will be looped ad-infinitum.

The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo struck Atletico defender Diego Godin, and was lucky not to be sent off, during their meeting in the Spanish Super Cup at the start of the season is likely to be conveniently overlooked.

As will the circumstances that led to their admittedly vicious display against Barcelona. That fixture was the third time the two teams had met in the space of 17 days and it is perhaps unsurprising that little niggles between players were amplified by such an intense period of fixtures.

That is not to condone the behaviour of some of the Atletico players, nor indeed the sections of the Vicente Calderon crowd who were baying for more every time a meaty challenge made contact with a visiting player. It is simply to say that while Atletico are certainly an aggressive and intense side, they rarely spill over into the violence seen last Wednesday.

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Per WhoScored, 13 teams in La Liga have committed more fouls than Atletico’s average of 14.5 per match so far this season. Ten sides have received more yellow cards and four have seen more players sent off. Their city rivals have had the exact same number of players (three) dismissed as Atletico have.

Yet it seems that the same mental and physical strength for which Atletico are often praised—most recently by AS columnist Relano in the build up to the second leg of the Barcelona tie—are then used as a stick to beat them with on the rare occasions they do cross the line.

Of course they are far from angelic. Simeone’s constant haranguing of match officials is tiresome and unnecessary, while some of his players (Diego Costa last season, Raul Garcia this current one) are masters at getting in a sly dig at their direct opponents here and there.

But these excesses only really come to the fore when they face-off against Spain’s big two.

While they are better off than most clubs in La Liga, Atletico nevertheless operate at a huge financial disadvantage to both Barcelona and Madrid. Their approach when facing these two sides is a direct function of the clear hierarchy of the Spanish game.

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Atletico have won three and drawn two of their five meetings with Madrid so far this season. In all of them they were strong, determined and well-organised in defence and decisive in attack. They were physical when required but acceptably so.

“Atletico are not a violent team,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said prior to the league meeting at the Bernabeu earlier this season, as per Yahoo Sports. “They are intense and aggressive.”

Those latter two attributes are the cornerstones upon which Atletico’s startling success under Simeone has been built. One league title, triumphs in the Copa del Rey and Europa League and their run to the final of last season’s Champions League were all predicated upon the defiant collective mentality fostered by their Argentinian coach.

Those attributes characterised Simeone the player and now typify his Atletico side. To cast them aside after one excess would be a grave mistake and one that he has rightfully made very clear that he is not about to make.