Jurgen Klopp v Thomas Tuchel Head-To-Head: Dominant Liverpool Boss To Extend Hoodoo Over PSG Manager

Jurgen Klopp v Thomas Tuchel Head-To-Head: Dominant Liverpool Boss To Extend Hoodoo Over PSG Manager
10:57, 18 Sep 2018

The action on the pitch will take centre stage at Anfield on Tuesday night as Liverpool clash with Paris Saint-Germain in a mouth-watering Champions League clash, although there will be an intriguing battle on the sidelines too as Jurgen Klopp comes up against his old rival Thomas Tuchel.

It will be the first time that two of Germany's finest managers have gone head-to-head since Klopp's Liverpool beat Tuchel's Borussia Dortmund 4-3 in a bona fide Europa League goal-fest in 2016, with the Reds eventually going on to lose the final to Sevilla.

The victory was Klopp's eighth in twelve clashes against Tuchel, although that record should perhaps be taken in the context of the two teams that they were managing, with many of those games coming during a period when Klopp was in charge of a strong Dortmund side and Tuchel was manager of Mainz.

Since completing their coaching badges together in 2006, Tuchel has followed in the footsteps of Klopp for much of his career. The 45-year-old took over Mainz in 2009, a year after Klopp left the Bundesliga side, and enjoyed five successful seasons, guiding them to the Europa League qualification before he took a year out. Tuchel was back in Klopp's seat in the dugout in 2015 as he replaced his fellow German as Dortmund manager, guiding them to 2nd and 3rd place finishes in his first two seasons before he was sacked just days after winning the German Cup.

Their careers have followed similar paths and it bodes well for Tuesday night's game that they share an appetite for attacking, fluid football.

Tuchel's only season as a manager in the Champions League in 2016/17 saw Dortmund keep just three clean sheets in ten games that produced an eye-watering 44 goals, including an 8-4 win over Legia Warsaw, culminating in a quarter-final exit. 

Tuchel is often criticised for being less personable than the gregarious Klopp, who holds the superior record to his rival when it comes to silverware, thanks to his two German titles, one German Cup and two German Super Cups. However, getting over the line and winning trophies has proven tricky in recent times for a manager who has now tasted defeat in two Champions League finals, as well as a Europa League final.

There is a train of thought that the 51-year-old would be better off focusing Liverpool's attention on the Premier League this season, particularly after the Reds won their first five games of the campaign, although he is unlikely to countenance such an idea ahead of a clash with a PSG side that has made a similarly explosive start to their domestic title defence.

Tuchel, who was appointed PSG boss in May, became the first manager in history to win his first five Ligue 1 games and the French champions have done it in style, scoring 17 goals. Tuchel has already toyed with a variety of formations, including a bold 3-1-2-4, 4-2-3-1 and a more standard 4-3-3, and this is arguably the first time that he goes into a clash with Klopp on a level playing field when it comes to resources.

He has won only one of his twelve head-to-head meetings with Klopp - a 1-0 win for Mainz against Dortmund in 2010 - but he will be hoping to finally step out of Klopp's shadow when he unleashes Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe upon Merseyside. 

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