Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa will no doubt be paying close attention to tonight's Champions League final.
Tottenham and Liverpool will meet in Madrid in an all-English affair, but for Bielsa the presence of one of his former charges in the Spurs dugout will be of key interest for him.
Bielsa discovered Mauricio Pochettino when the Spurs boss was a 15-year-old in Argentina, signing him to Newell's Old Boys' youth system before blooding him in the first-team and later calling him up to the Argentina national side.
Since moving into coaching Pochettino has been quick to hail Bielsa's influence, joining the likes of Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone as disciples of the Leeds United head coach.
But in typical Bielsa fashion, the 63-year-old has played down his role in Pochettino's development.
“I want to tell you, I’ve known Pochettino since he was 15," Bielsa said last month. "He has built his own career as a head coach. He has built his own style. It’s his property. What his team does is more linked to his ideas than the ideas of other teams.”
“That’s why I disagree with the position of teacher. I’m not his teacher, because Pochettino’s style is an original one, he designed and drew it himself. Before each game, we say there is a favourite team.
“You have many examples that show that the conclusions shown before games about who is the favourite is confirmed or the opposite. If you take the predictions and you compare to the result you find maybe 50 per cent of predictions are right, 50 per cent are wrong.
“As we have the luck to be able to play in two days, there’s no point in making any predictions about it. We don’t feel as winners before playing the game, or as losers before playing the game. What we value is the possibility to show what we deserve.”
Pochettino was hugely emotional following his side's semi-final win over Ajax, pictured crying on the pitch and again breaking down during his post-match interview with BT Sport.
“We were all full of emotions after the game of last night,” Bielsa explained.
“And I can imagine what he felt because as a head coach I think it was a special emotion for him.
“[That game] was a party of football for the team who won. For the team who lost, both teams respected each other.
“I saw Pochettino trying to control his happiness not to offend the opponent. It doesn’t mean he didn’t celebrate. And I saw that he was controlling himself, he didn’t want his celebration to be an offence to the opponent team.
“And I am thankful for what he said about me.”
