When we talk about the world’s most renowned managers, the name of Diego Simeone will probably be one of the first that come up to mind. The Argentine coach has won a lot of recognition for his work at Atletico Madrid, as hemakes even more than Kylian Mbappe according to a report.
Simeone has completely changed the fortunes of the Colchoneros since he took over in December 2011, when the club was struggling in the La Liga standings. Not only he put Atletico back on their feet but he even took them to new heights,making them in one of the most respected teams in Europe.
Under Simeone, Atleti have ended with the Real Madrid–Barcelona supremacy and have even challenged for UEFA Champions League glory. However, his managerial career in Europe had previously begun somewhere else, in an Italian club that has recently ceased to exist.
Serie A: The first club where Diego Simeone coached in Europe no longer exists
Before his success at Atletico Madrid, Diego Simeone worked for the first time as a head coach in Europe in January 2011 when he was appointed byCatania, who were in the Serie A by then. Unfortunately, the club has later gone through a difficult few years that resulted in its exclusion from the Italian professional soccer pyramid.
Catania were the first European club to hire Diego Simeone as head coach. (Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Catania declared bankruptcy in December 2021 and, after failing to resolve their situation, were removed from the Serie C – Italy’s third division – with immediate effect.“With great pain, I must confirm the club has been declared bankrupt and cannot continue in Serie C. This is a situation that I, as President of the League, wished I never had to deal with,”Lega Serie C president Francesco Ghirelli said, per Football Italia.
Catania have been disaffiliated from the Italian soccer federation and their players are now able to sign for any other team as they’re considered free agents. The club was in 11th place of the 2021-22 Serie C standings but were excluded with four games to goand all their results will be eliminated, as if they have never taken part in the tournament.
Catania’s time in the Serie A beforebankruptcy
Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez (left) played for Catania when they were in the Serie A. (Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images)
Catania have played in the Italian top-flight from 2006 to 2014, when they were relegated to the second division. Theywere later demoted to the Serie C in 2015 for match fixing and were unable to go up since then. The team found itself in a terrible financial crisis that no one has been able to resolve and it eventually led to the disaffiliation from the Italian federation.
They were the first European club to hire Simeone as head coach, as the Argentine manager had only worked in his home country until then. He didn’t last long, though, as he only worked until the end of the season before he returned to Argentina to coach Racing Club. In 18 games with Simeone as manager, Catania claimed 24 points (W7 D3 L8). It’s been a long time since then, as El Cholo is comfortably at one of the world’s top clubs while Catania have to start from scratch if they want to reintegrate into the Italian soccer pyramid.
