Manchester United travel to Spain on Wednesday night to face Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League showdown. And they will come face-to-face with a manager they almost appointed.
Back in April 2014 when the Red Devils were about to part company with David Moyes, Diego Simeone was top of their wishlist.
And the former Argentina midfielder had even hired a teacher for private English lessons in anticipation of landing the United job.
Atletico went on to win the La Liga title weeks later but lost out to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the final of the Champions League.
And a move to England never materialised, with the 13-times Premier League champions instead opting to appoint Louis van Gaal as Moyes’ successor.
Simeone has been nothing short of a miracle worker in Madrid and has now been in charge at Atletico for over 10 years.
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And the 51-year-old will be hungrier than ever to succeed where he has failed in the past – but he will have to do it the hard way.
Atletico progressed to the knockout stages of this season’s Champions League despite winning just two of their group matches.
They lost twice to Liverpool before Christmas, while suffering another rare home defeat at the hands of AC Milan.
Atletico are struggling in La Liga and already find themselves a staggering 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid.
But it would be foolish to underestimate any team that Simeone is in charge of and Atletico might just raise their game for the visit of United.
The Red Devils are enduring their own struggles this season and have been cut well adrift of Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Ralf Rangnick’s side were hardly convincing during their Champions League group matches, although they did manage to finish above Villarreal, Atalanta and Young Boys.
We could be set for another enthralling night of European football at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
And Simeone will surely be out to show United what they missed out on all those years ago.
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