Apart from Atlético he also coached seven other La Liga clubs as well as the Spain national team, whom he led to their second European Championship title in 2008.

[citation needed] In 1964, Aragonés was signed by Atlético Madrid where he acquired the nickname "Zapatones", meaning "big boots", since he was known as a free kick specialist.

The following year, Atlético reached the final of the European Cup played against German champions Bayern Munich.

He captained the side for the sole time on his 10th of 11 caps, a 3–0 win over Northern Ireland in Seville on 11 November 1970 in qualification for UEFA Euro 1972.

In his fourth spell at the club, his Atlético side came close to achieving a historic double during the 1984–85 season, winning the Copa del Rey and finishing runner-up in La Liga.

[9] He then spent a season at fellow Barcelona based club Espanyol before rejoining Atlético for a fifth spell, where he won the sixth Copa del Rey of his career in 1992.

Spain were unbeaten in qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup under Aragonés, but finished as group runner-up to Serbia and Montenegro,[16] and thus required a play-off against Slovakia to secure their place.

After taking the lead through David Villa, they lost 3–1 following goals from Franck Ribéry, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane.

[21] Spain recovered strongly to seal a ticket as group winners ahead of Sweden that also qualified directly to the tournament, while Denmark missed out.

Aragonés then presided over Spain's victorious campaign at Euro 2008, beating Germany 1–0 in the final with a goal from Fernando Torres for their first international honour since 1964.

[23] His tiki-taka style of play was retained by his successor, Vicente del Bosque, who led Spain to further tournament victories.

[20] After denying an approach in late June,[24] Aragonés replaced Zico as manager of Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe on 5 July 2008.

[44]The incident caused uproar in the English media with calls for Aragonés to be sacked or suspended of his duties, however the Spanish Football Federation stated that "his offence has not been deemed serious enough to warrant a suspension of his duties, or his sacking" [45][46] After an investigation into the events during the match, UEFA fined the Royal Spanish Football Federation 100,000 Swiss francs/US$87,000 and warned that any future incidents would be punished more severely.

[50] The Royal Spanish Football Federation released a statement of "grief and shock" at the death of the man who was the coach at "the start of its most glorious era of successes on the world stage".

[51] Diego Simeone, incumbent manager of Atlético Madrid, spoke on the day of Aragonés' death, saying, "From here I want to send a very strong message to his family.

"[52] Aragonés' successor as the coach of Spain national football team, Vicente Del Bosque gave his word, "We've woken up to a sad news.

"[53] His funeral was held on 2 February in Madrid with the attendance including Spanish players Carles Puyol, Cesc Fàbregas, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi.

[54] At the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final, Atlético Madrid wore shirts with Aragonés' name written in gold on the inside of the collar.