SKF Manager of the month in the top 5 leagues in Europe

#1 Diego Simeone - Atletico Madrid (SPAIN)

Diego Simeone has had the most satisfying month among the managers.

We're delighted we held off on publishing this last evening, because we pretty much had our minds made up about who our number 1 was going to be. It was the maestro Zinedine Zidane. Now hold off before you accuse us of either being Real Madrid fan boys or Barcelona haters.

To make ourselves clear, Zidane was our choice because of the wonderful form his team has managed to find this month. After the bitter disappointment of losing in the Copa Del Rey quarterfinals to the small-time Leganes side, Madrid bounced back to beat Valencia 1-4 at the Mestalla in the last fixture of January.

The only blip in February came right at the start of the month, when Madrid let a lead slip twice - the second time in the penultimate minute of normal time - to drop points away against Levante. It's been all upside since, till they experienced another one just a matter of hours ago away at Espanyol, where they conceded (the only goal of the game) in the last minute of stoppage time.

It's never nice to try to explain why Zidane isn't on any list with a title that has the word 'Top' in it, but the shoddy performance by Madrid last night was really the last straw.

Whereas, for Ernesto Valverde, the task to be number one in Spain and as a result number one on this list (because of the intense battle between the top three managers) for February, was made difficult because his side failed to win 2 of the 5 league matches - away to Espanyol and against minnows Getafe at home - they were involved in, despite coming away with a decent result from Stamford Bridge in the Champions League.

Atletico Madrid, meanwhile have been the biggest victors in the month of February. Under Diego Simeone, the Madrid-based club has taken large strides forward both in the league and in Europe. The Uruguayan has over-seen the most successful period in the club's recent history, winning the La Liga in '13/14, after a gap of 18 years - the first time the Catalans or the Los Blancos failed to win it since '03/04.

But facts like those aren't the reason he's our number one this month. In this compilation it's all about - what have you done lately? But don't worry, Simeone has you covered. His side has been on it this entire month.

January culminated in the elimination from the Copa Del Rey at the hands of Sevilla, but Atletico bounced back in February by winning all 6 matches that they played including wins against Copenhagen in two legs in the Europa League, against Valencia in the league and sweet revenge over Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium for the Copa Del Rey loss.

Go on Diego, take a bow. You are our Manager of the month for all of Europe!