The Argentine winger of Atlético de Madrid Giuliano Simeone was once again one of the most outstanding players last Tuesday in the Colchoneros’ victory against the Belgian Union Saint-Gilloise on matchday 4 of the Champions League, a victory to which he contributed in form with a great assist for his compatriot Julián Álvarez in the goal that opened the scoring and where he confirmed his great form in this campaign.
Giuliano Simeone has only had to play 15 games this season to equal the numbers of his first full season at Atlético de Madrid. The South American footballer, who has also earned a permanent place in the Argentine national team squad, is continually shining this season, and has become one of the most important players for his father and coach Diego Pablo Simeone.
The international is, along with Marcos Llorente, Antoine Griezmann and Conor Gallagher, the only player who has participated in the 15 official matches that Atlético de Madrid has played this season. In fact, only Marcos Llorente (1,262) and the Spanish-French central defender Robin Le Normand (1,183) surpass the minutes played by the right winger, who accumulates 1,151 minutes on the pitch between LaLiga EA Sports and the Champions League.
Furthermore, in 13 of them he has been a starter, starting only from the bench against Rayo Vallecano and Osasuna, a consistency only surpassed, apart from the undisputed Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak who has played in all 15 games, by Llorente, who made his first substitution last Tuesday, and by Julián Álvarez, who missed the visit to the English Liverpool FC due to injury.
An indisputable condition in the ‘Cholo’ elevens that has been earned through work and effort, but also through quality and talent. And, in addition to the grit exhibited last season, Giuliano Simeone has incorporated the overflow, the definition and, above all, the pause and clairvoyance in the last third of the field. He has become Julián Álvarez’s best partner, with whom he understands wonderfully and the numbers reflect it.
Atlético de Madrid’s ’22’ is the team’s top assistant so far this season. In total, he has distributed five assists, experiencing a particularly good moment in the last five games, in which he has accumulated three. The last of them for Julián Álvarez to open the scoring against Union Saint-Gilloise, in which it was also his second goal assist for ‘La Araña’ of the course. The same ones that he gave to his compatriot Thiago Almada.
In addition, we must add his goals, three goals that make him the second player with the most goal involvements on the team (8), only surpassed by Julián Álvarez (13), who has nine goals and four assists. Of course, in the last few games the role of Giuliano Simeone has been especially prominent, with seven appearances in as many colchoneros in the last nine games.
Some numbers that demonstrate the growth of a player who has not yet turned 23 years old. In fact, if the goal participation data is compared to last year, the improvement is overwhelming. In less than a third of the championship he is one goal behind what he achieved during the entire last season, while in the assistant section only two goals separate him.
Added to this is that his weight in Atlético’s offensive game has also taken a quantitative leap. If last season, he participated in an average of 37.4 actions with the ball – data from ‘Driblab’ from the League and Champions League – this year, that amount has increased to 57.3 on average. In addition, the success rate in these actions has also improved from 74 percent last season to 76 percent this current one.
But what is surely most important for Diego Pablo Simeone is that this leap in his son’s offensive quality is not at odds with his physical display in defense, where he continues to be one of the most important players on the team when it comes to pressing. In LaLiga EA Sports, he is the second winger with the best percentage of successful pressures – between two and four meters on the opponent – in the competition (28.6%), to which is added that he is also the second who recovers the most balls in these for his team, with an average of 2 every 90 minutes.
Thus, the state of form of the youngest of the Simeone saga is beyond all discussion, and the most positive thing for Colchoneros fans is that he does not seem to have, at the moment, a ceiling. All this, in an exciting season for Atlético de Madrid, but also for the Argentine team, in which he has become a fixture for Lionel Scaloni. And given her projection, it seems very difficult for her not to play her first World Cup next summer with the current world champion, emulating her father, a World Cup winner in 1994, 1998 and 2002.