DIEGO SIMEONE: The King of Atletico Madrid clean sheets.

                 







Wednesday's 1-0 Atletico Madrid victory against Bayern Munich was the 135th clean sheet in 256 games for  Diego Simeone as Manager of Atletico Madrid. This season Atletico have conceded the least goals in the Spanish La Liga having only seen 16 goals past their Goal Keeper. This is the least number of goals conceded across any of the top 4 major leagues across Europe. The closest contenders are PSG and Juventus who each have conceded 18 goals. This definitely sums up the point that Atletico Madrid have the most Disciplined defence in terms of shutting out opponents.

The Former Footballer turned Coach is to be praised for his defensive prowess since he took over the Madrid side in December 23rd in 2011 after the sacking of Gregorio Manzano. Manzano was sacked after collecting 19 points in 16 games and living the team placed 10th on the league Standings. Manzano who was on his second stint as Atletico Manager, was sacked six months into his job even after advancing to the knockout stages of the Europa League.

Diego Simeone, who was a defensive midfielder and played for Atletico from 2003-2005 making 36 appearances and scoring twice, seems to have found a winning formula despite limited resources. He has won the La Liga title, the Europa League, the UEFA Super Cup, the Copa Del  Rey and the Supercopa de Espana since he started his Managerial Career at Atletico Madrid. He also got Atletico to the 2014 Champions League Final where they Lost to city Rivals Real Madrid 4-1.

So far this season Atletico have Kept 34 Clean sheets in all competitions and Currently lie third in La Liga and are on the verge of qualifying for the second UEFA Champions League final in a span of three years. With Bayern's 1-nil win Atletico made it 5 clean sheets in a row in all competitions and this is the fourth time this season that this team has kept 5 clean sheets in a row. This surely shows how well their backline is organised. Despite Atletico's frontline not having as much firepower as Barcelona the two teams have won 26 games drawn 4 and Lost 5 and are on 82 points only trailing Barcelona by goal difference with Barca having +73 with Atleti with a goal difference of +43.

The backbone of this team is in how well they defend having gone 180 minutes without conceding a shot on target. This shows the tactical prowess of Simeone when it comes to defending. Atletico in their quarter final victory against Barca kept Messi at bay only allowing him a single shot on target towards goal in the two-leggged fixture.

Atletico Madrid do not have the Financial Capabilities of City rivals Real Madrid but have managed to gain 4 points from their city rivals this season. They have managed to square well against other oppositions despite at times having to sell star players to sustain the Club's finances. Players like Sergio Kun Aguero, Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Diego Costa and Arda Turan left during their prime in search of greener pastures as the club couldn't sustain their salary demands. But Simeone has managed to keep the ship afloat and with his energetic and passionate style of management always seems to push his 'little horse' across the line dropping some of European 'Big Boys'.

And that is why Diego Simeone is a magical manager and the Definite king of Clean sheets at Atletico Madrid.

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