Atletico Madrid's Diego Godin (R) gestures next to coach Diego Simeone during a news conference at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid in March 10, 2014. REUTERS/Andrea Comas
MADRID (Reuters) - When Atletico Madrid were knocked out in the Champions League quarter-finals by Ajax Amsterdam in 1997, midfielder Diego Simeone could scarcely have imagined it would be 17 years before they reached the last eight again.
Almost two decades later, Simeone is now coaching the La Liga side and Tuesday's dominant 4-1 home victory against seven-times winners AC Milan, which put Atletico through to the quarter-finals 5-1 on aggregate, was the latest evidence he has moulded his unfancied squad into genuine European contenders.
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