Giuliano Simeone: Atletico Madrid’s Versatile Star Who’s Earned His Place on Merit

When Giuliano Simeone joined Atletico Madrid’s academy in 2019, skeptics wondered whether nepotism would overshadow merit. As the son of legendary manager Diego Simeone, the 23-year-old carried a burden few footballers must endure—proving he deserved his place independent of his famous surname. Halfway through his second campaign with Atletico’s first team, Giuliano has emphatically answered those doubts, emerging as the club’s most versatile and indispensable outfield player.

More Than Just a Famous Name

Playing for Diego Simeone demands a particular breed of footballer. Since becoming Atletico Madrid manager in December 2011, the Argentine has cultivated a specific identity—one defined by grit, intensity, and unwavering commitment to the collective. After winning the La Liga title in 2014, Atletico catapulted into a new dimension with bigger budgets, a modern stadium, and access to more talented players. However, preserving their blue-collar DNA while accommodating expensive stars has presented ongoing challenges.

Giuliano Simeone represents a novel solution to this problem. Where his father seeks footballers who embody the qualities he demonstrated during his playing days, what better candidate than an actual Simeone? Even better, one who arrives daily determined to prove he’s playing based on ability rather than family connections.

Few doubted Giuliano possessed the character to represent Atletico. The critical question centered on whether his pure footballing qualities could match his physical and emotional attributes, or if enthusiasm would ultimately limit his first-team possibilities. Early in his development, this seemed a fair concern. However, his progression through his second campaign has provided an emphatic response.

Born to Play for Atletico Madrid

Giuliano Simeone’s DNA will always be his calling card. Aggressive, intense, and driven by an innate competitive desire, his minimum contribution weekly is anything but minimal. He represents a throwback competitor who ensures less precise days are sustained by contagious physical effort.

“Giuliano transmits something that is very difficult to go and buy. Either you have it or you don’t,” Diego Simeone has stated about his son.

The encouraging development for manager and club is that Giuliano’s character has become less relevant to discussions—partly because it’s now an immovable trait, and partly because he influences matches in increasingly varied ways. His seven assists in 28 games this season is already approaching his total from 50 appearances last campaign (nine assists).

Giuliano’s progression can be confirmed even without examining goal production. His father’s reliance on him gauges his growing importance. In his first campaign between August 2024 and May 2025, Giuliano ranked as the team’s eighth most-used outfielder with 1,940 minutes played. Since the Club World Cup last summer, he has played more than any other Atletico outfielder with 2,342 minutes.

Giuliano Simeone Minutes Played Comparison

This increase becomes especially notable considering Atletico’s attacking recruits last summer: Álex Baena, Thiago Almada, Nico González, and Giacomo Raspadori. When competition intensified, Giuliano’s playing time increased rather than decreased.

The Swiss Army Knife Role

The key to Giuliano’s indispensability lies in his balanced contribution between attack and defense, particularly during transitions. Moving from defense to attack, he becomes a transitional menace. Reversing direction, he proves feisty in counter-pressing and generous in recovery runs. This duality makes categorizing him difficult—he’s simultaneously an attacking defender and defensive attacker.

Either way, he meshes both aspects in ways that facilitate his father’s pursuit of team balance. Notably, had the season started in September rather than August, Atletico would sit three points off the La Liga lead with the division’s best defensive record.

From his starting position on the right wing, the 23-year-old constantly flows between right-back, wing-back, right midfielder, and support striker over 90 minutes, depending on game phases. This shapeshifting occurs at team level too, with Giuliano’s versatility enabling Atletico to switch between formations seamlessly.

Positional Versatility in Matches

One clear manifestation appears defensively. Atletico uses the classic 4-4-2 as a starting point but frequently shifts into back-five systems depending on where they’re defending. Higher up the pitch, Giuliano launches out as a snappy presser closing down opposition full-backs. When opponents establish possession, he drops back forming a defensive line of five, bolstering flank strength and allowing the right-back to shift inside covering another channel.

The variable remains the player’s willingness to perform this way. Convincing a €70-million winger to play in the defensive line when Atletico—content to defend deep—lacks possession typically proves a tough sell. For Giuliano, it’s simply his job.

Defensive Excellence From a Winger

This flexibility grants Diego Simeone greater options setting up defensively in a more dynamic, modern take on collective defending. It also allows quick switches between main defensive approaches: aggressive pressing from 4-4-2/4-3-3 or defending deep with a back five.

Despite Atletico readily falling into that back-five shape with Giuliano on the right, their average ball recovery distance from their own goal in La Liga this season (43 meters) represents their highest since 2016-17 (43.1 meters). Their possession average (53.3%) also marks the highest in any La Liga season during the Simeone era.

Rather than making them more defensive, the back five has made them more variable in defensive methods. Nobody embodies this spring from disciplined defending to energetic pressing more than Giuliano.

Giuliano Simeone Defensive Stats (La Liga 2025-26)

In La Liga this season, no winger has more possession recoveries (81) or combined tackles and interceptions (45) than Giuliano. He also tops wingers for expected goals (xG) value of sequences initiated (3.1), underlining his ability to recover the ball and create scoring opportunities, typically high up the pitch.

Electrifying the Right Wing with Marcos Llorente

In La Liga this season, 40.5% of Atletico’s attacks have come down their right side—the third-highest percentage in the division. In the UEFA Champions League, that number jumps to 44.2%, the fourth highest among 36 teams.

Spearheaded by Giuliano, their right flank represents a constant hive of activity, especially when supported by Marcos Llorente at right-back. Together, they form a duo of Swiss army knives, constantly moving off each other and attacking the opposition’s defensive line at speed.

Atletico Madrid Attacking Distribution

Even against deeper blocks limiting space, they frequently dart in behind through swift give-and-goes or well-timed runs exploiting slow opponents. Pure speed to the byline and crosses has also proven a frequent success avenue. In an era where wingers playing on their strong foot side becomes increasingly rare, Giuliano remains one of few at elite European clubs extracting plenty from driving, straight-line runs on his dominant side.

Since the Club World Cup start, his six assists following a carry rank third-most by any player for clubs in Europe’s big five leagues, behind only Michael Olise (10) and Vinícius Júnior (7)—two players who heavily lean on cutting onto their stronger foot.

Movement Without the Ball

Though sharing certain spaces with Europe’s elite wingers, Giuliano differs in how he reaches his preferred pitch spots. Lacking jinking dribbles, precise feints, and direction changes like Vinícius, his success relies much more on actions without the ball at his feet.

Through a blend of searing pace, relentless motor, and improved run timing, Giuliano’s movement without possession has become key to both individual success and Atletico’s team performance.

The surprising rise of Giuliano—paired with Llorente’s right-back conversion—has occurred simultaneously with major boosts in squad creative passing quality. The result: Atletico’s distributors now have devastating off-ball attackers to find, while runners have faith their movements will be discovered.

Champions League Defensive Line-Breaking Statistics

In Champions League this season, Giuliano leads all players for defensive line-breaking passes received (18), piercing opponents’ back lines an average three times per game. Atletico, meanwhile, are the team who have played the most defensive line-breaking passes (48).

There’s an interesting distinction for Atletico. Although they average 59 line-breaking passes per game (only just above the competition’s average), the fact they are the top-ranked side when it comes to breaking the opposition’s defensive line specifically tells us how they are engineered to come alive in the final third.

Atletico swings the ball side-to-side in buildup before sparking into action with quick, wide attacks—particularly right-sided—when arriving into the final third.

Volume and Repetition

Inevitably, the foundation behind getting in behind opposition as often as Giuliano does relates to mere repetition attempts. His 53 runs in behind rank second-most by any winger in Champions League this season, and the only two instances of an Atletico player with 10+ in a single match this term have both been him.

Giuliano demands attentive defending through sheer volume of testing runs. Take your eye off him or fail matching his movement and eventually he will punish that inattention. His relentless running combined with improved timing makes him perpetually dangerous to opposition defenses.

Giuliano Simeone Runs In Behind (Champions League 2025-26)

The 23-year-old’s persistence eventually breaks down even the most organized defenses. His willingness to make the same run repeatedly, even when not found, eventually creates scoring opportunities. The two instances of an Atletico player recording 10+ runs in behind during a single match this Champions League season have both been Giuliano, demonstrating his relentless commitment to attacking the defensive line.

Proving the Doubters Wrong

In a season where Giuliano could reach 100 appearances for Atletico, he’s surpassed any expectations the club might have held when he reported for pre-season training in summer 2024. From novelty to first-team fixture—and now Argentina international—his rise has been fueled by spirit and maintained by individual development.

Atletico extended his contract last week, tying him down until 2030. The decision carried plenty of reasons, and being Diego Simeone’s son probably wasn’t the clincher. His technical quality, tactical intelligence, and physical attributes have all developed significantly, transforming him from a prospect living in his father’s shadow to a key player in his own right.

The contract extension represents validation of his journey—recognition that Giuliano Simeone has earned his place at Atletico Madrid through merit, not nepotism. His evolution from academy prospect to indispensable first-team player demonstrates that talent, determination, and tactical adaptability matter more than surnames.

The Perfect Simeone Player

Giuliano embodies everything Diego Simeone seeks in a footballer. His willingness to perform defensive duties as a winger, sprint back in transition, press aggressively, and then switch immediately to attacking mode represents the ideal. Add improving technical quality, consistent end product, and leadership by example, and you have the complete package.

For Atletico, finding players with this mentality has always been the challenge. Expensive signings sometimes lack the commitment required to play Simeone’s demanding system. Giuliano arrived with the mindset pre-installed and has developed the skills to maximize it.

His impact extends beyond individual performances. Teammates see his work rate and match it. Opposition players must account for his runs and defensive contribution, creating space for others. The tactical flexibility he provides allows Diego Simeone to implement more varied game plans without sacrificing defensive solidity.

As Atletico pursues La Liga and Champions League glory, Giuliano Simeone has established himself as fundamental to those ambitions. The young Argentine has proven that merit, not birthright, defines careers—even when your father happens to be one of football’s most iconic figures.

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