London - Greg Lea

It is difficult to overstate Diego Simeone’s achievements as Atlético Madrid manager. When he replaced Gregorio Manzano in December 2011, the club appeared to be consigned to mid-table in La Liga. They had won the Europa League 18 months before he arrived at the club under Quique Sánchez Flores, but a pair of fourth-place finishes in 2008 and 2009 were the height of the club’s domestic achievements in the previous decade. The season before Simeone took over, Atlético finished behind Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao in seventh place, 38 points behind champions Barcelona and just 15 above the relegation zone.

That Atlético smashed the seemingly impregnable duopoly Barcelona and Real Madrid had established in La Liga to lift the title in 2014 – just three years into Simeone’s reign – is nothing short of sensational. He had already secured the club’s 10th Copa del Rey and another Europa League and Super Cup in his first two campaigns, as well as reaching the 2014 Champions League final, but his triumph in La Liga was undoubtedly the pinnacle. It is impossible to fluke your way to a league championship.

At just 48 and into his eighth year in Madrid, it’s easy to forget that Simeone has managed five other clubs. His coaching career began in Argentina, where he divided four seasons between Racing Club, Estudiantes, River Plate and San Lorenzo. His success was mixed: league titles with Estudiantes and River Plate were offset by a hugely disappointing stint at San Lorenzo, who finished seventh under Simeone after having won the league the previous year.

When Simeone crossed the Atlantic in January 2011, it was no surprise that Italy was his destination of choice – as it had been in his playing days, when he joined Pisa from Vélez Sarsfield in 1990. He only spent five months at Catania, but his time in in eastern Sicily helped him become the coach he is today. “Catania was a real learning curve,” he reflected later. “I grew amid difficulties. In terms of courage and ideas, a lot about my Atleti comes from Italy.”

Catania were hovering precariously above the relegation zone when Simeone arrived. The sacking of his predecessor, Giampaolo, was considered harsh by some fans, but Simeone was an entirely logical replacement. Catania’s squad contained 12 Argentinians, including Mariano Andújar, Alejandro Gómez and Pablo Álvarez, all of whom had worked with Simeone in South America.

“It’s as if I never left,” said Simeone at his unveiling, referencing the eight years he spent at Pisa, Inter and Lazio. “I have kept in contact with this country and with Serie A and I hope to open a long cycle with Catania.” It did not turn out that way, but his time at the club was a success nonetheless. His knowledge of Italian football proved invaluable: with Catania in a relegation battle, Simeone had to find his feet quickly. From his first training session on 20 January onwards, every day mattered.

Atlético’s tactics are now well known. Simeone likes his players to press effectively, be solid defensively and counter-attack quickly. He is pragmatic rather than dogmatic about formations, taking his players’ strengths and weaknesses into account before settling on a system. At Atlético, he has usually played a narrow 4-4-2, but his Catania team switched between a 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-1-2. Giampaolo’s 4-1-4-1 was ditched, largely to restore playmaker Adrian Ricchiuti, who had been discarded by the Italian coach. Ricchiuti was installed as the side’s trequartista, tasked with linking the midfield and attack and creating chances for whichever of Maxi López, Gonzalo Bergessio and Francesco Lodi were selected up front.

Although Simeone has been flexible – early in his Catania reign, he said he did not want to “fossilise myself with a rigid tactic,” saying managers cannot have a favourite formation “for the simple fact that we have to adapt not to what we like but to what we have to work with” – the overall approach Atlético have made famous in Spain was also clearly evident in his Catania team.

His players stayed compact and narrow when defending, with the widemen – two of Ezequiel Schelotto, Giuseppe Mascara, Raphael Martinho and Alejandro Gómez – expected to drop back and tuck in when out of possession; meanwhile, playmaker Ricchiuti and the central striker – more often than not López – moved back into midfield rather than pressing the centre-backs, with the aim being preventing simple passes into the middle of the pitch. That tactic will be familiar to anyone who has watched Atlético under Simeone.

Catania were happy to concede the ball and control the space, the idea being to deny room between the lines for opponents to pass through before springing forward quickly on the counter. The players may have been inferior but watching the Catania of 2011 is akin to watching Atlético in 2014: disciplined, compressed, intense and cohesive.

Despite those tweaks in style and change of shape, there was little initial improvement on the pitch. Catania picked up just one point in Simeone’s first four games, feeble defeats to relegation rivals Parma and Bologna showing how tough a job he faced. Catania were just one point and place above the dreaded 18th position going into their home game with Lecce in mid-February, but Simeone finally picked up a win thanks to two goals in the last 10 minutes from Francesco Lodi.

Catania won their next three games at the Stadio Angelo Massimino – including a 4-0 thrashing of arch enemies Palermo – but their away form remained woeful. In fact, they won just one game on the road all season. Nevertheless, a discernible improvement had been made and, with five games remaining, Catania had a four-point and three-team cushion above the relegation zone.

By now, Simeone had fostered a ferocious team spirit among a group who, while clearly talented, had been divided under Giampaolo. Simeone’s underdog tactic of ceding the ball to rivals – an approach he went on to use at Atlético, who averaged just 49.1% possession when they won La Liga in 2013-14 – was matched with an underdog mentality. He created an “us against them” mentality, pouncing on any media criticism or dubious refereeing decisions as proof of others not wanting the Sicilians to succeed. Catania also developed an admirable never-say-die attitude, coming from behind to defeat Lecce and Genoa and secure vital draws with Bari and Juventus. Their performances increasingly looked like Simeone’s own style of play: full of intelligence, aggression and craft.

Catania secured survival with a game to spare after a run of three straight wins over Cagliari, Brescia and Roma. Their final points total of 46 was their best ever in the top flight. Despite having a year left to run on his contract, Simeone left the club in June for a brief stint at Racing Club in his homeland before he was installed as the new Atlético boss in December.

It would be too simplistic to attribute Atlético’s success purely to what Simeone learned at Catania. There are notable tactical differences between the two sides – not least Catania’s use of a traditional No 10 – but the same courage, commitment and compactness on show in Spain was evident in Sicily.

Simeone’s experience in Serie A gave him a managerial footing in Europe and faith his model could work on the continent. Just six months after leaving Sicily he was appointed Atlético coach and, although the decision had a lot to do with his connections with the club and his accomplishments in South America, his rewarding spell in Italy helped persuade the board he was the right choice.

When Simeone decides he has taken Atlético as far as he can, a host of clubs will chase his signature. The Bundesliga or Premier League look likely destinations, but Simeone retains affection for former employers Inter and Lazio, just as he did for Atlético after playing for them more than 150 times. Simeone has always spoken positively of his time in Italy both as a fiery but smart player and a fiery but smart manager. Serie A, you feel, has not seen the last of Simeone yet.

The Guardian Sport