Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp have been exchanging pleasantries and making small talk ever since they were pegged to face each other in the Champions League final.
Klopp for his extraordinary history of getting teams to finals.
“For Jurgen to be here 10 months ago and be here again now is special,” Pochettino said. “I admire Jurgen a lot. He’s a very good example. Maybe he has been a little bit unlucky, but it is the third time he is going to arrive at this final – the most difficult thing is to arrive at the final.
“Sometimes the universe is with you, sometimes it’s against you, But to arrive in a third champions league final? I admire him a lot.
Of course we are in football because we want to win but I think the journey to the final of the Champions League is the most important and the most difficult thing.”
Some might suggest that was a dig at Klopp, who has lost all of his last six finals including last year’s Champions League showpiece in a humbling defeat by Real Madrid.
However, there appears to be genuine mutual respect between both bosses even with Europe’s biggest prize on the line.
The pair often draw comparisons because of their style that insists upon a high press and an intensity matched by few sides anywhere on the continent.
Pochettino was questioned on the subject last year and once again paid tribute to Klopp’s approach to the game. although he insisted they were actually entirely different coaches.
“You can’t compare Klopp’s style with my style, we are different. I’m not saying one is better than the other, just that we are different,” he said.
As it stands, Pochettino is still looking for his first ever piece of silverware while Klopp is yet to put a trophy in Liverpool’s cabinet.
Pochettino still has to regularly fend off criticism aimed at him for a lack of tangible success but found a supporter in Klopp when he claimed it was more important for Tottenham to finish in the top four than win a trophy this season.
“From a club point of view, the best competition to win is the Premier League because then you are in the top four and you won a big thing,” Klopp said.
‘You want to win the other competitions but that doesn’t guarantee you the money for the next year. That’s why top four is so important.