“Simeone is a born winner” – former teammate defends legacy

Written by Zach Lowy

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past eight months, it’s likely that you’ve taken notice of Spanish football’s growing injury crisis. From Dani Carvajal to Dani Olmo to Brais Mendez, some of the biggest names in La Liga have fallen prey to the injury bug this season, following a trend that has ravaged the European game.

However, one thing’s clear: none of these injuries come close to the one suffered on February 25, 2000, in a match between Espanyol and Atletico Madrid. It was just after the 20th-minute mark as Espanyol’s Miguel Angel Benitez was challenging for a loose ball at the midfield line when his compatriot Celso Ayala lunged in from behind and delivered a bone-chilling scissors tackle. Benitez suffered a knee subluxation, a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a posterior cruciate ligament rupture, a posterior capsule rupture, a rupture of the posteromedial capsular ligament complex, a rupture of the posterior medial-lateral ligament, an internal meniscus tear, and a fracture of the external tibial plateau.

“It was a criminal tackle,” stated Benitez. “I didn’t see it coming, so I didn’t have time to swerve out of the way. They operated on my knee twice because my leg didn’t have the appropriate condition to run, so they did an arthroscopy and removed the damaged meniscus which prevented me from turning my knee. Every day, I’d arrive at the rehab centre mentally destroyed. I went into rehab for eight hours each day and practically tortured myself for 14 months in order to return to the pitch.”

Born in Santisima Trinidad, Paraguay, Benitez developed in Paraguay’s lower leagues before making the move to Spain in 1987, where he cut his trade in the amateur divisions before joining Atletico Madrid in 1993. Unfortunately for Benitez, his first season in the capital was marked by turbulence as Atleti finished 12th and went through six different managers. Whilst Benitez only made 10 appearances with Los Rojiblancos, he did manage to share a dressing room with new signing Diego Simeone. Three decades later, Simeone is considered the most important man in club history.

“Simeone was an idol in the Argentine national team, but in Atletico, he couldn’t triumph in his first season because of the ‘sacred cows,’ players who had a lot more weight in the squad. He triumphed in his second year because he’s a born winner with a lot of character and who’s very focused, and because of this, he reached his objectives. That’s why he’s gone very far in football,” said Benitez.

“Ever since Simeone came, Atletico is always fighting at the top. He’s a coach who psychologically prepares his players well, he’s very demanding, and he’s already won a lot of trophies with Atletico. He’s one of the best coaches in the world, and he’s also the best paid. I think he’s doing a very good job. We’re going to see him at Atleti for a lot longer because he’s doing things well.”

Desperate for regular minutes, Benitez headed out on loan in January 1995 and excelled in attack with 10 goals in 23 appearances as Merida became the first team from Extremadura to reach the Spanish top division. This earned him a transfer to Espanyol, where he emerged as one of the most scintillating wide forwards in Spain’s top-flight, scoring 30 goals and 3 assists in 161 appearances. However, whilst he was able to participate in a World Cup and a Copa America with Paraguay, he never managed to earn a lucrative transfer. Just when he looked set to join Liverpool, he suffered the worst injury in the history of Spanish football.

❤️🇪🇸🇦🇷 Gabi: “For me, it’s an honor to be compared to Diego Simeone. I spent a lot of time by his side and learned a lot. I’m a completely different person, but on the pitch I try to transmit energy to the players. I want them to see me as positive and encouraging. Within that… pic.twitter.com/y0QOT5YEpY

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) April 11, 2025

“Many people think I earned a lot of money because of my trajectory, but I started at Calpe and didn’t get paid much, and then went to Atletico Madrid where I earned 3,000 pesetas per month, whilst the club also took care of my apartment and the cost of the bus/train for me to get to practice and matches. But in the best moment of my career, when my transfer to Liverpool was basically a done deal, and when I was finally going to get a big payday, I got injured.”

Forced to spend 45 days in a hospital with his leg elevated, Benitez even came close to having his leg amputated. And when the esteemed Spanish doctor Ramon Cugat saw him, he predicted that he would never play football again. Instead, Benítez returned 448 days later, being used sparingly off the bench for Espanyol before deciding to head back to his homeland and join Club Olimpia in January 2002, where he guided them to glory in the Copa Libertadores.

Benitez would follow that up by winning the Recopa Sudamericana before returning to Spain and spending a brief spell with Almeria, then bouncing around from Peruvian side Club Universitario de Deportes to Paraguayan outfits Sportivo Luqueno, Olimpia and Guarani before hanging up his boots in 2007.