Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann has proven himself as one of the best young coaches in Europe, and the German coach's next task will be to overcome the fame and achievements of his fellow Liverpool coach, Jürgen Klopp, in the Champions League.
Experts view Nagelsmann, 33, as the best young coach in football at club level, and he will have a chance to prove his worth when his team faces coach Klopp's club, Liverpool, in the price of the Champions League final in February.
Klopp faced his counterpart Nagelsmann in the 2016-2017 Champions League, when the young coach was coaching Hoffenheim, and Liverpool emerged victorious at the time, but then Nagelsmann made performances that made many expect to follow Klopp's footsteps in winning titles.
Klopp, 53, won the Bundesliga title twice with Borussia Dortmund, and won the Premier League and Champions League with Liverpool, but Nagelsmann has plenty of time to equalize his compatriot’s achievement.
After a successful spell with Hoffenheim, Nagelsmann led Leipzig to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, in his first year in coaching the team, before going out against Paris Saint-Germain.
And he became the youngest coach in history to win a match in the knockout rounds in the Champions League, after his team beat Tottenham in the final price of last season's version, before the game was severely damaged by the Covid-19 epidemic.
This wasn't the only blow Nagelsmann dealt with a Premier League opponent this year, as Manchester United, led by coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, appeared to outperform the German coach in the group stage of the Champions League this season after United's crushing 5-0 victory at Old Trafford in October. / Last October.
But it was Nagelsmann who laughed at last, after his third victory in 4 games against an English competitor in the highest club competition in Europe caused United to be knocked out of the tournament last week, to set Leipzig on a date with Liverpool.
"Liverpool is a difficult competitor," said Leipzig's sporting director Marcus Croce, "but we have shown our ability to beat major competitors. We qualified this season for a very tough group, which is a great achievement in itself, and we continued to build on the good performance last season, which is a great success for us."
Leipzig also started the season beautifully in Germany, finishing third in the league, one point behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Liverpool are second in the Premier League, level on points with leaders Tottenham Hotspur.