It's exactly three years since Diego Simeone took over as coach of Atlético de Madrid. It seems like only yesterday when the Argentine turned the club's fortunes around.

Back then Atlético were closer to the relegation zone than the luxury of competing in the Champions League and many had written them off. The Vicente Calderón stadium was a sad place until 'El Cholo' showed up to liven things up. Now, 1,096 days later, Atlético are a radically different team to the one on the verge of collapse in 2011.

The club has undergone huge changes since then and has blazed a trail at home and in Europe. In his first season, Simeone managed to lead his men into the final of the Europa League, where they thrashed Athletic in Bucharest. Months later they would make easy work of Chelsea in Monaco - at the time the Blues were the reigning champions of Europe. The following year Diego Costa came into his own and quickly turned heads. The striker had spent more time away from the club than being a part of it but would become one of the building blocks that enabled Atlético to win the Copa del Rey for the tenth time in their history.

The very next season 'El Cholo' set his sights on La Liga. His philosophy at the start was to take things one game at a time but that soon turned into one final after another, finally achieving his goal in the season finale to end all finales at the Camp Nou. The rest is now part of 'Rojiblancos' history, and it was another triumphant year despite the tragic ending in Lisbon. Although a very bitter blow for the club, that painful defeat spurred them on to keep up the good work and their efforts were rewarded by claiming the Spanish Super Cup this season.