Klopp vs Tuchel, mutual 'respect' and Chelsea's growing Liverpool rivalry

Thomas Tuchel must be sick of the sight of Jurgen Klopp by now. Wherever he goes in his career as a coach, the German is there waiting to beat him once again.

Klopp was at Borussia Dortmund and Tuchel coached Mainz between 2009 and 2014, where the pair regularly locked horns in the battle of the two tacticians.

Tuchel's two years in Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain provided a short period of relief, although the two sides later met in the Champions League group stage in 2018-19.

But now they are in the Premier League together with Chelsea and Liverpool respectively, the battle has reignited.

Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel meet again in the Premier League ( Image:

Pool via REUTERS)

Both sides have started the season in strong form, taking maximum points from their two games so far, scoring five times without conceding a goal.

That means something has got to give at Anfield on Saturday evening, with Chelsea hoping for a repeat of their result on Merseyside last season.

It is a rivalry that is packed with history and built on friendship and respect. But for those 90 minutes on the pitch, Klopp and Tuchel will be anything but civil as their previous battles have demonstrated.

Ahead of their crunch clash on Saturday, Mirror Football looks at the long-running head-to-head battle between the German duo…

Early years

Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp pitted their wits against each other at Mainz and Dortmund ( Image:

GETTY)

For a while, it seemed like there was a master-apprentice dynamic to their relationship.

Klopp, as the older coach at 52, had managed both Mainz and Dortmund before Tuchel did — he succeeded him in both roles in 2009 and 2015.

Ironically, it was actually Klopp who played a part in helping Tuchel secure his first senior management position 12 years ago.

Whilst at Borussia Dortmund in 2009, Klopp watched his club take on Mainz in an Under-19 match. It was the Schwarzgelben who came out on top that day, but Tuchel's side gave a good account of themselves.

It was impressive enough for Klopp that he felt inclined to talk up his counterpart when speaking to the club's chief executive Christian Heidel, who he knew well from his seven-year stint in charge of the club until 2008.

His stamp of approval must have some value because Tuchel was hired shortly after and spent five years with the club before taking over at Dortmund in 2015.

Relationship

Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel share a mutual respect for one another ( Image:

Pool via REUTERS)

Klopp was extremely complimentary about his countryman when Chelsea made the shock decision to sack Frank Lampard and hire Tuchel as his replacement in January.

"Unfortunately he's a really good manager," he told reporters. "I have known him a long time and respect him a lot. This Chelsea squad is a present, I'm pretty sure Thomas sees it like that. They will be good."

But he hinted that perhaps the pair will not as close as it had been originally reported when he was asked if he had any advice for the 47-year-old.

"I will give Thomas Tuchel no advice in public!" he added. "I don't actually have his number so I couldn't text him. He was in France for a while and I never got his French number! No advice necessary, from my side."

This feeling of mutual respect — without the idea that they would go out with their wives or "play tennis" together — is shared by Tuchel.

"Of course there are coaches at the moment in the Premier League, you enter the competition with the best clubs and coaches in the world and one of them is Jurgen clearly, he has proven that," he said.

"It is a challenge for me to play against him and his teams but we will not meet up for a tennis match, we will play with our teams and we have to be prepared.

"Of course we know each other but not as good as everybody expects. We never met in Mainz and then I was his successor in Dortmund so naturally, did not meet.

Thomas Tuchel spoke highly of Jurgen Klopp's managerial attributes

"We meet when there is a farewell game for a player in Mainz, it is a lot of fun to talk to him. We meet at coaches meetings, UEFA meetings and we use the time to have lunch or dinner together.

"He is super nice to talk to and a very interesting man. But it is not as close like it might seem."

Head-to-head record

Klopp and Tuchel's most memorable clash was in the Europa League in 2015-16

In both of his roles at Mainz and Dortmund, Tuchel was the man chosen to succeed Klopp in the dugout. But their head-to-head record suggests he still has some way to go before emulating him.

There is no other manager that Tuchel has faced more often in his career than Klopp. On the 15 occasions he has met with the Reds boss, he has tasted victory only three times — with three draws and nine defeats.

One of their most memorable encounters was when the teams were drawn together in the Europa League quarter-finals in 2015-16.

Liverpool appeared to hold the advantage after grabbing an away goal with a 1-1 draw at Signal Iduna Park in the first leg. But the return fixture was far from a routine European tie.

Liverpool beat Borussia Dortmund 4-3 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate ( Image:

Getty Images)

Instead, the fans were given 90 minutes of electric, free-flowing football and they provided a raucous atmosphere to go with it.

The hosts had been 3-1 down before recovering back to 3-3, although Dortmund were going through on away goals.

That was until Dejan Lovren headed home a 91st-minute winner, sending Anfield into pandemonium and the Merseyside outfit through to the semi-finals.

Recently, however, Klopp's record has taken a few dents.

He had not lost to Tuchel in any match since 2010 before the two sides met in the Champions League group stage, but PSG outplayed the Reds to take a 2-1 win away from the Parc des Princes.

Last meeting

Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea claimed all three points at Anfield in March ( Image:

Pool via REUTERS)

Anticipation was high for the Anfield clash in March earlier this year when Chelsea travelled to Anfield for a crunch clash.

Liverpool were struggling to cope with a defensive injury crisis that was threatening to derail their season, while the Blues were slowly turning into one of the Premier League's toughest teams to break down and chasing a top-four spot..

And sure enough, Tuchel's side exacerbated Liverpool's problems by inflicting a 1-0 defeat on them, with Tuchel earning praise for executing a tactical masterclass.

The winning goal arrived courtesy of a wonderful solo strike from Mason Mount and it was entirely deserved, as the visitors were sturdy at the back and potent going forward.

Mason Mount's solo goal gave Chelsea all three points against Liverpool

It meant Liverpool had lost a fifth consecutive game at their home ground, a statistic almost unthinkable considering they had gone 63 games without defeat during a run that spanned three years.

But eventually Klopp's men made a decent recovery, going unbeaten in their last 10 matches, and even leapfrogged Chelsea into third place on the final day of the season to get one over on their non-geographical rivals.