Is it the right time for Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone to part ways?

Another LaLiga season comes to an end after the final round of fixtures, and Atletico Madrid will hope to cement their third-place finish with at least a point at Girona.

Though their Champions League qualification is already assured, they can still be pipped to third if there's a six-goal swing between their fixture and Athletic Club's game against champions Barcelona.

Aside from the occasional title-winning success under Diego Simeone, Los Colchoneros have consistently finished in that 'bronze medal' position and have rarely been able to improve upon it.

Atletico Madrid´s players celebrate with the LaLiga trophy in Madrid on May 23, 2021JAVIER SORIANO / AFP / AFP / Profimedia

Indeed, El Cholo has been in charge since December 2011 and has seen his squad come up short to both Barcelona or Real Madrid in seven of the last 10 seasons. 

In 2023/24, even minnows, Girona, knocked them off the podium and into fourth place, in what was another disappointing campaign.

Diego Simeone recorded Atletico Madrid's highest LaLiga finish for 17 years

During the first few seasons of his tenure, a third-place finish in 2013 was actually the highest Atleti had finished in 17 years so at that time it was something to savour. 

That same season, Simeone led his side to Copa del Rey glory against rivals, Real Madrid - a team they hadn't beaten since before the millennium in any competition - in Los Blancos' own Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Atletico Madrid's Colombian forward Radamel Falcao holds the Copa del Rey trophy aloft as he celebrates winning against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadiumDANI POZO / AFP / AFP / Profimedia

That Atleti would get to two Champions League finals in his first five years and also win a league title suggested that the Argentinian had found his rightful home, firstly at the Estadio Vicente Calderon and latterly at the Estadio Metropolitano.

Ultimately, Real Madrid (twice) would deny Simeone the chance for him and his side to lift the premier European club title, Sergio Ramos famously scoring an injury time header to take the 2014 final to extra-time where Real tore Atleti apart.

Spain's duopoly rarely broken

Since those heady days, however, and though Atleti have had their moments under the former Argentinian midfielder, they just can't get over the line in terms of consistently winning silverware.

It does therefore beg the question as to whether it's about time for Simeone to move aside and let someone else take on the mantle of trying to break the duopoly in Spain.

Barcelona's Fermin Lopez and Frenkie de Jong challenge Atletico Madrid's Antoine GriezmannČTK / imago sportfotodienst / Bagu Blanco / PRESSINPHOTO

The first-team squad is peppered with star names such as Julian Alvarez, Antoine Griezmann, Jan Oblak and more, so it can't be said that Atleti don't have the players to challenge for honours either.

Atleti players always give everything for El Cholo

In general terms over the past decade, the numbers do support Simeone being able to extract every last drop of effort from his players.

For example, since 2014/15 in league play only, Atleti have won 252 of 417 games. In terms of goals, they've plundered a more-than-acceptable 700 and conceded 326, giving their manager a winning record across the past 10 years of a healthy 60.4%.

Scratch the surface, however, and the current season in particular doesn't really stand up well.

Atletico Madrid's Giuliano Simeone tackles Real Madrid's Vinicius JuniorRuben Albarran / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

In 37 games to date during 2024/25, the 21 wins Atleti have accumulated is the second-worst output under Simeone since 2014/15. That translates to a 56.8% win percentage, which is the fourth worst recorded by the squad since 2014.

Seven away wins is far from Atleti's best in LaLiga in the same time frame whilst 64 goals scored is also the worst return over the past five seasons.

Positives and negatives

If we look at things from the perspective of all competitions played in since 2014/15, there are positives and negatives to take away.

For example, 105 goals scored in total this season is just one away from the most Atleti have scored in the past decade with one game left to play. 33 wins is better than six of the last 10 seasons but not as good as the remainder.

Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone during the match against OsasunaČTK / imago sportfotodienst / Ricardo Larreina

Perhaps the one statistic that sticks in the craw of supporters, however, is that inability to regularly beat both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Picking up wins against those two teams would invariably give Atleti more of a chance in the league and Copa del Rey or otherwise.

To put into perspective just how difficult Atleti have found it to impose themselves on their biggest domestic rivals, in the last 44 games against Los Blancos in all competitions, covering the period from 2014/15 to the present day, Atleti have won just 10. They've also played Barcelona 35 times and won only six.

Think about that. 16 games won out of 79 played.

Is the 'Simeone way' still the way forward for Atleti?

Playing the 'Simeone way' was never going to be as pleasing on the eye either, though the Rojiblancos faithful haven't seemed to mind that for the most part.

The argument most people seem to have had, and continue to have, is that there needs to be a little bit more than a few flashes of brilliance per season to get everyone excited for what's to come.

Diego Simeone on what he expects from his Atletico Madrid playersOpta by Stats Perform

To that end, a new voice in the dugout might be just what certain players need to hear in order to be able to topple Spain's top two on a more consistent basis, and perhaps to acquire both domestic and European silverware.

Simeone is unlikely to leave until he's pushed, however, and it would certainly take a brave man to give him his marching orders.

That's the decision facing club president, Enrique Cerezo this summer, however.

Jason PettigroveFlashscore