Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino is one of Marcelo Bielsa’s most famous disciples.
Having played under him for club and country, the current Spurs chief instills many of the tactical hallmarks of Bielsa’s game as a manager himself as he prepares for the biggest game of his career in tonight's Champions League final against Liverpool.
But the story of how he was discovered by the current Leeds United manager is unbelievable, and Pochettino confirmed that it’s true in an interview with Gary Lineker on BBC’s Premier League Show.
Bielsa was a youth coach and scout at Newell’s Old Boys at the time. Having heard about a promising young teenager in the small town of Murphy, he travelled there, arriving in the early hours of the morning to see a young Pochettino.
"It's not fake. It's an unbelievable thing that happened many years ago when I was a child,” Pochettino confirmed.
"Marcelo Bielsa knocked on the door at one or two in the morning. My mum and dad were a bit scared and wondering what was happening.”
Gary Lineker interjected: "He asked them if he could see your legs, is that right?"
"He asked them if he could see the boy. They said yes and my mum pulled out the blanket. Marcelo said: 'It's the legs of a footballer'."
A few years later, Bielsa would be in the Newell’s dugout, giving Pochettino his senior club debut, winning titles together in the early 90s that would never be forgotten, with a squad that also featured future Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino and future Sevilla manager Eduardo Berizzo.
The pair would also go on to work together at the turn of the century for the Argentine national team, with Diego Simeone and his Atletico Madrid assistant German Burgos also in the squad for the 2002 World Cup.
Bielsa’s influence is profound and far-reaching, and Pochettino himself has previously called him his “football father”.
While his mentor fell short in the Championship play-offs, the Tottenham boss is looking to achieve European glory in his club's first Champions League final when they take on Liverpool in Madrid tonight.
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