London (AFP)

There is a bit of José Mourinho in Julian Nagelsmann who, at 32, achieves prowess on the bench of Leipzig. The promising German faces the charismatic Portuguese Tottenham on Wednesday, in a round of 16 first leg of the Champions League in the guise of generational shock.

He had everything from the ideal heir. Nagelsmann professes ideas in terms of pressing, attack and play very similar to those which marked the glorious hours of Mauricio Pochettino at the Spurs.

But when the Argentinian charm evaporated, the English club turned in November to an experience profile with very different principles: José Mourinho, 57, who had been impatient to find the Premier League since his dismissal of Manchester United in 2018.

25 years and a whole track record separate the two technicians. But at the head of RB Leipzig, Nagelsmann follows in the footsteps of "Mou", a former "golden boy" who won the first of his two C1s at the age of 41, with Porto in 2004.

The German has built a reputation by passing in three seasons (2016-2019) the modest Hoffenheim club from maintenance candidate to qualified in the Champions League.

For the RB Leipzig, created from scratch by Red Bull in 2009 and where he arrived last summer, he had everything missing to shake up the aristocracy of the Bundesliga and its king, Bayern Munich.

- Audacity and energy against experience -

Their romance was tied up well before the formalization this summer of his arrival.

"It's like when you go to a club and you're single, you never find a girl. But if you go to a club with your girlfriend, there are quite a few who want you," he slipped into a interview at The Independent.

The graft between a daring coach and a young and full of energy workforce immediately took, bringing Leipzig to a point of Bayern in the Championship and the first eighth final of C1 in its history.

In all compartments, the experience will however be on the side of Spurs, led by a double winner of the Champions League and who has gone each year a little further in the competition in the last three years.

"José has experience in all kinds of situations. He has led so many knockout games that he always knows what to do if his team leads, is led, takes a goal early, needs to score at the end of the game ... The only knockout matches I know of is the German Cup, "which is played in one game," said Nagelsmann.

But in recent years, Mourinho's experiences in the Champions League have not always been positive.

- Don't call him "Baby Mourinho" -

The Portuguese has not crossed the eighths since 2014, either with Chelsea or Manchester United, in confrontations marked by a very cautious approach which was often his trademark.

One of the reasons why Nagelsmann refuses the nickname "Baby Mourinho" which was stuck to him when he was taking care of the youth teams from Hoffenheim, for his attention to detail.

Since joining the Spurs, defense has remained Tottenham's weak point, since on nine occasions in twenty games, the Spurs have conceded at least two goals.

The injury to an arm of Korean striker Son Heung-min could however have a significant impact on the match, the Spurs finding themselves deprived of one of their main weapons in counterattack.

Under Nagelsmann, Leipzig is a team that likes to have possession (54% on average), while being able to leave the ball to the opponent against the "big guys" that are Bayern, Dortmund or Leverkusen.

How much "respect" will the student show the teacher? This will be one of the lessons from the first leg.

© 2020 AFP