3 managers who have won major trophies with small clubs

#2 Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid)

Diego Simeone

Atletico Madrid are not exactly a small club these days, and the credit for that goes to Diego Simeone, their Argentine coach. Atletico have featured in 2 UEFA Champions League finals in the last 4 seasons, and were unlucky to come up against the great Real Madrid side on both occasions. But the greatest achievement for Simeone was to win LaLiga in the 2013-14 season, beating the likes of Real and Barcelona to it.

Simeone has built a solid defensive core at Atletico, with players like Diego Godin, Miranda, Felipe Luiz, Juanfran, and Gabi. They also have skillful players like Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa upfront who have contributed a great deal to the club’s success.

Griezmann has scored 118 goals from 226 matches for Atletico, and remains their talisman. Simeone’s team however relies more on defence, and plays with an uncompromising, solid, defensive shape. He won LaLiga with 90 points from 38 matches, and lost only 4 games.