Diego Simeone Must Continue at Atletico Madrid Despite Champions League Mistakes
Diego Simeone got it wrong in Milan on Saturday, and Atletico Madrid paid a hefty price.
The club reached the UEFA Champions League final for the third time in their history, and yet again they left with nothing.
Rivals Real Madrid beat them 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the San Siro, winning the competition for the 11th time in their history. Atletico were left in a state of sorrow.
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Simeone was devastated after the game. Per Sport, he said what hurt the most was "to see the people who paid for the tickets, who travelled, who supported us, who hoped."
He also admitted that to lose a second Champions League final was a "failure" and that he was considering his future as the club's manager.
"I might leave," he said, per Sport. "It's a moment to think and I'm doing that."
Simeone made a handful of small mistakes that turned out to be enough to punish his side.
This isn't an easy conclusion to reach because the Argentinian coach is arguably the best manager in the world.
Atletico reached the final thanks to his tactical genius, with Simeone masterminding his team's way past Barcelona and Bayern Munich, both recent winners of the competition.
But facing Madrid again, as they did in Lisbon's 2014 final, Atletico froze.
Simeone didn't send his men out with enough purpose.
A lot of Atletico's biggest triumphs have come based on defending and punishing stronger teams on the break.
Zinedine Zidane knew this, and his Real Madrid team played like a team that didn't want much of the ball to counter it.
With Atletico confused and seemingly nervous early on, Madrid pounced. Gareth Bale's free-kick was nearly turned in by Casemiro, before the Welshman nodded on a Toni Kroos set piece for Sergio Ramos to bundle home in the 15th minute.
The Madrid man was offside, but Simeone accepted after the game it was not something to complain about.
"In football whoever wins deserves it, today and always," he said after the game, as reported by Sport.
His team took a long time to get back into the game, with their whole first-half display a disappointment, although the longer the 45 went on, the better they became.
The coach made a good decision at half-time, bringing on Belgian star Yannick Carrasco for Augusto Fernandez, giving his team a vastly more attacking look.
And as Simeone pointed out at the club's media day on Monday, the talented forward has the ability to change things.
"In the minutes we use him, he will the difference-maker," the coach had explained. "Whether that's 90, 60, 30, minutes, the minutes have to be quality. In a final, one minute can mean everything."
Carrasco's introduction gave Atletico a better setup, a way of moving the ball forward from midfield to attack, allowing Koke to move more toward the centre than at the start.
It showed that Madrid were a team that could be attacked. That they weren't strong. Their defence could be breached.
Eventually, Atletico scored, with Juanfran's perfect cross finding Carrasco at the back post, and he blasted home with aplomb.
Then came Simeone's second mistake: not introducing Angel Correa for Fernando Torres.
Atletico’s coach has helped restore the Spanish veteran to a level approaching his best, at least in terms of productivity, and he seemed loath to remove him.
Torres has been good in recent weeks, but in Saturday's game, he played extremely badly, with his only positive contribution being fouled by Pepe in the penalty area.
Antoine Griezmann wasted the spot-kick, smashing the ball against Keylor Navas' crossbar as Atletico chased the equaliser.
Torres didn't begin to threaten Ramos and company, whereas the sprightly Correa would have given Madrid a lot more to think about.
The Argentinian forward is good at playing in tight spots, with his quick feet, and he could have unpicked Madrid's defence a second time.
It had taken Atletico Madrid too long to attack a mediocre Real Madrid side. They saw Real's limitations in the derby at the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of February, which Atletico won 1-0.
Although Zidane's side has improved since then, Atletico still had little to fear, having conquered Barcelona and Bayern.
Carrasco showed them the way, but then Simeone didn't explore that avenue further with Correa.
The coach's third mistake, and the biggest, came in extra time. His team did not push Real.
Los Blancos were visibly tiring. They had used all three substitutions, and even then the players they had on the pitch didn't look in great condition.
Ronaldo had the odd burst, but for the most part he seemed injured or tired. Bale was cramping up. Extra time had also got the better of Luka Modric, whose influence was waning.
Yet Atletico didn't push. Simeone didn't use his final two substitutions until the final minutes of the game. If he had used them earlier, he could have punished Madrid with his team's fresh players.
As well as being able to exploit Madrid's tiredness, he would also have done the best he could to avoid penalties, which didn't look particularly inviting for his team.
Although Atletico beat PSV Eindhoven in the last 16 on spot-kicks, Jan Oblak did not save a single one.
The Rojiblancos won 8-7 on penalties, but it took a Luciano Narsingh strike to hit the crossbar to give Atletico the chance to progress. Juanfran converted to put his team into the quarter-finals and, by chance, was the player to miss in the San Siro, striking the post.
Real Madrid stopper Keylor Navas, however, has a good penalty-saving record and stopped three in La Liga this season.
Oblak, in Saturday's shootout, either dived the wrong way or did not make any movement at all, with Madrid converting all five of the spot-kicks they took.
Another potential error was having Juanfran take the fourth penalty, meaning Torres didn't get to take one. Presumably, he had been lined up to take the fifth.
That might not be Simeone's fault, as the players often have a say in the ordering of the takers, and there is no guarantee Torres would have scored, either—although as a striker you expect him to step up.
But regardless of these errors, Simeone should not leave. He is the man who could bring Atletico Madrid more success. He has won everything with them apart from the Champions League.
El Cholo made some mistakes here, and they will be painful to mull over. But they will also be lessons learned.
Simeone has shown improvement and progression in his career. He knows how to suffer. And suffer he will after this. But when he finishes thinking, he will realise he must stay at the Vicente Calderon.
He loves Atletico, and Atletico, fans and players alike, love him. Few coaches have fit a club so well. Back into the breach, Diego. Two finals: two defeats. Third time lucky.
Quotes taken firsthand unless specified.
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