On January 7, 2012, Atlético drew 0-0 at La Rosaleda against Málaga. A point that meant a victory for an Atlético that was in the middle of the table, but closer to relegation (four points) than to European positions (five). That tie was the first result that Simeone reaped at the helm of the rojiblanco team. A rough, ugly game, with almost no chances for either team and in which Atlético went from less to more. El Cholo already revealed in that first match what his Atleti would be: intense, aggressive, with the idea of keeping his goal to zero.
Malaga was the beginning of Simeone’s ten years at the helm of the team. Courtois; Perea, Godín, Domínguez, Filipe Luis; Juanfran, Tiago, Gabi, Diego Ribas; Salvio (Arda Turan, 67 ‘) and Falcao (Adrián, 88’) were the ones who played against the Andalusian team.
Atlético later beat Villarreal (3-0), Real Sociedad (0-4) and Osasuna (0-1) and won three draws against Valencia (0-0), Racing (0-0) and Sporting (1-1) before being defeated by Barcelona 1-2. It was clear that Atlético was a very different team with Simeone than it had been with Gregorio Manzano. They were the same footballers, but they seemed different. The rojiblanco team finished the season in fifth position, with 56 points. The champion was Real Madrid, who added a hundred points. Barcelona was second, Valencia third and Malaga fourth. The Cholo team stayed two points from fourth place and from playing the Champions League.
The great joy was taken by Atlético in the Europa League. He eliminated Lazio, Besiktas, Hannover and Valencia before reaching the final in Bucharest in which Falcao swept Athletic. In Malaga, ten years ago today, Simeone began his legend in the rojiblanco club.