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Ruthless Diego Simeone is a pantomime villain - his intention was to lead Atletico Madrid into the Champions League last eight by hook or by crook

Up and down his arms went, the speed decreasing with every wave. They had only been playing 10 minutes at Anfield but Diego Simeone was animatedly making his point.

When Simeone was whipping Atletico Madrid's fans into a frenzy at the Wanda Metropolitano on February 18, you could see him hollering "vamos!" repeatedly but the mantra for this absorbing evening on Merseyside was clear: Mas Despacio!

The literal translation is 'more slowly' and Simeone was making no apology for taking the fizz out of proceedings. Dressed from head to toe in black and sporting heavy stubble, Simeone is a pantomime villain; he looks like a lead from a South American gangster movie – and is just as ruthless.