DIEGO SIMEONE relaxed on the beach with his stunning wife – seemingly a world away from his recent rant at his Atletico Madrid critics.
The Argentine boss, 49, and girlfriend Carla Pereyra, 31, enjoyed their summer break in the sun, just months after they welcomed their second child together – Simeone’s fifth – to the world.
The Atleti chief did his best James Bond impression as he emerged from the ocean in just his swim-shorts – and looked more than happy as he laughed with fans on the sand.
However, just days earlier he blasted his critics, claiming his Atletico Madrid “changed history, but nobody sees that”.
Los Rojiblancos finished second in La Liga behind a rampant Barcelona, but were knocked out in the last-16 of the Champions League – with the final held at their Wanda Metropolitano home.
Lashing out, Simeone roared: “It seems that nobody sees [our achievements], but it’s not only that we became [La Liga] champions [in 2013-14], but we are changing the history of the club.
“In these seven-and-a-half years we won seven trophies and lost three finals, two of which were in the Champions League and one in the Supercopa de Espana against Barcelona.
ON THE DEFENSIVE
“Atletico Madrid have started to place themselves among teams such as Liverpool, Inter, Juventus…”
Meanwhile, Simeone continued by insisting his side were not a defensive team – stating he ensures his team play attractive football.
The Argentine said: “We played our first Europa League final against [Marcelo] Bielsa’s Athletic Club, which was a great team.
“We featured Adrian [Lopez], Gabi [Fernandez], Mario Suarez and Diego [Ribas] in midfield and Arda Turan and [Radamel] Falcao.
“In the Copa del Rey final that we won against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, we had Diego Costa, Falcao and Arda in attack, with Koke, Gabi and Tiago [Mendes] in midfield.
“Can you say that these teams are defensive, with Juanfran [Torres], who played as a winger at right-back and Filipe Luis on the left?
“We arrived at Atletico Madrid and found a very solid team due to their nature and the characteristics of Raul Garcia, Cristian Rodriguez, Gabi, [Joao] Miranda and Diego Godin.
“Now, following the team’s financial growth, we have started targeting players with other characteristics [such as flair and creativity].”