Diego Simeone is the ultimate touchline warrior, from being sent off as an 11-year-old ball boy to the Man in Black whipping Atletico Madrid into a frenzy

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When Diego Simeone was banned from the touchline for three games last week for allowing – and some said even encouraging – a ball boy to throw a ball on to the pitch just as the opposition were counter-attacking, it reminded people of an incident involving him many years ago in Argentina.

He was an 11-year-old ball boy for Velez Sarsfield in 1982 in a game against Boca Juniors and he was sent off for throwing an extra ball on the pitch to help his team launch a quick attack. ‘Incredible! Sent off as a ball boy’ he told La Nacion in an interview in 2005.

On both occasions he had an excuse. Last month he argued the ball boy was not his responsibility. Talking about the incident with Sarsfield he said there were two balls on the pitch because one had been thrown off by the goalkeeper and bounced back on off the advertising hoarding. Guilty or innocent, you decide. What is not in contention is that nobody wants to win quite as much as Simeone.

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone (centre right) clashes with Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery on Tuesday

Simeone even had his hand round the neck of the French playmaker at one point in the exchange

Simeone was his usual animated self on the touchline, even slapping one of his own club's officials on the arm

The Argentine masterminded Atletico's conquest of Bayern in the Champions League semi-finals

As ever, the fiery Simeone lived and breathed every second of the match on the sidelines

Simeone celebrated wildly on the touchline after the full-time whistle confirmed Atletico's progress

Dressed in his trademark all-black clothes, the former Atletico player salutes his team's fans in Munich

The Man in Black leaves no detail untouched. In 2013 when Atletico Madrid faced Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final the game was to be played at the Santiago Bernabeu, the home of Real Madrid. Simeone didn’t mind the venue but he didn’t want the stadium full of Real staff. He insisted that half the ball boys were provided by Atletico and the other half by Real. He wanted nothing left to chance.

As he sees it, everyone can play a part in the process of winning. That’s why he regularly turns away from the pitch to face the supporters waving his arms urging them to raise the volume. Even the quietest voice – if it can be raised in support of the team – can make a difference.

And that is why he was so upset with his own team delegate Pedro Pablo Matesanz for taking too long to make that late substitution happen as the clock ticked down on Tuesday’s semi-final. He wanted that change made. He wanted Bayern’s rhythm broken one more time.

If he still could, he would be covering every blade of grass on the pitch for Atletico Madrid but instead he has to content himself with covering every blade of grass in his technical area – and as many blades of grass as he can get away with outside of it too.

He was on the pitch in the Champions League final two years to confront Raphael Varane and it earned him a UEFA touchline ban for the start of the following season’s tournament. Sometimes he oversteps the line but it would be impossible to find an Atletico supporter who is not glad he does.

The intensity never seems to subside. In his post-match press conference he was immediately turning attention to the next game. ‘We need a lot of people in Levante for Saturday’s penultimate match of the season. I want to reach the last game, still with the possibility of winning the league.’

No stranger to controversy, Simeone is pictured here being restrained during a spat against Real Madrid 

Simeone and then Barcelona boss Tata Martino compete for the most excited reaction during a match in 2014

Simeone points an accusatory finger at referee Bjorn Kuipers during the 2014 Champions League final

Barcelona were another of Simeone's victims in the quarter-finals of this year's competition 

Simeone covered every blade of grass during his playing career and does so too as a manager 

All players hate retiring and get limited recompense from coaching. Nothing can replace playing, they say. Simeone is one of those who despite having retired from playing to become a manager still appears to be playing. He kicks every ball, makes every tackle and it cannot help but reach those who really are playing on the pitch.

In the last-16 game when Atletico were taken to penalties by PSV Eindhoven, the Dutch side's kicks were so well-placed and coolly taken that it seemed maybe they were going through and the Spanish going out.

Simeone turned to the home supporters in the Calderon to urge them to take the decibel-count up a notch one last time. They duly obliged and PSV’s Luciano Narsingh missed the next spot-kick. Jan Oblak saved it - or maybe it had been Simeone, Uri Geller style, with the power of his mind.

Simeone is banned for the last two league games of the season and so will watch from the stands. Maybe it’s a good thing. We have before us a managerial phenomenon. Perhaps the only coach who needs to be rested and rotated every now and then so he doesn’t burn out.

He’ll direct from up on high this Saturday for the last game of the season at home to Celta Vigo. But he will be back in his technical area at the San Siro on May 28 – for the Champions League final. 

Simeone is never afraid to give a referee a piece of his mind, such as here with Clos Gomez

Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez makes the mistake of getting involved in a challenge with Simeone

Spells in the stands are not uncommon for a manager who has found himself in hot water over his discipline

Pictured while manger of River Plate in 2008, Simeone's dress and energy remain unchanged

A billboard feels the full force of Simeone's rage during a Sudamericana Cup match in Buenos Aires in 2008