Much has been made of Diego Simeone’s pefromance this season, with Atletico Madrid out of Europe before Christmas, and exiting the Copa del Rey before February. It has left Los Colchoneros fighting ‘only’ for third place in La Liga. However a recent statistic has emerged that shows the incredible success of his tenure.
Simeone recently managed his 613th game against Sevilla, a 6-1 win crowning Simeone as the manager to take charge of the most ever Atletico Madrid games, surpassing legendary Luis Aragones.
As per Statsatm, Simeone’s record is perhaps better than people appreciate. Through 613 games, taking the first 613 that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger took charge of at Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, it is the Argentine who has the best record.
Simeone has won 359 of his matches, drawn 143 and lost 111. Ferguson won 331, drew 169 and lost 113, while Wenger won 349, drew 153 games, and lost 111 – the same as Simeone.
Simeone comes out with the highest win percentage (58.6%), compared to Ferguson (54%) and Wenger (56.9%). While United were not the behemoth they are today when Ferguson arrived, there is an argument to say that Simeone has done so with comparatively less resources, and certainly a bigger gap to the league leaders.
It illustrates the remarkable work that Simeone has done at Atletico Madrid over the last 12 years. Ferguson would go on to manage 1,390 games in his 27 at United, while Wenger accumulated 1,228 in 22 years at Arsenal, as per El Desmarque. There is debate over whether Simeone will continue at the helm, but based on the evidence, another decade of similar achievement from Simeone would be an incredible achievement.