Friday 11 March 2016 07:25, UK
On Thursday, Jurgen Klopp and Louis van Gaal go head to head for the sixth time in their managerial careers when Liverpool host Manchester United in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie. Ahead of their meeting at Anfield, we examine the history of their rivalry…
Louis van Gaal certainly had the better of his first Premier League encounter with Jurgen Klopp, when a late strike from Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United a 1-0 win at Anfield in January. The Dutchman called it a "big step" in the right direction, while Klopp was left to rue a string of missed scoring chances.
It was not the first time Van Gaal has come out on top. During his time in the Bundesliga, there was the thrill of taking his Bayern Munich side to Klopp's Borussia Dortmund and winning 5-1; a demolition that turned his team's season around and would eventually take Bayern to within one game of a treble.
Klopp got his own back the following season, however, when Dortmund blitzed Bayern in their own backyard. It was described by Munich-based journalist Christian Eichler as "a masterpiece", and one that confirmed Dortmund's rise. They went on to win the double. Van Gaal was gone within weeks.
Here's the tale of their five previous matches against each other…
Dortmund 1 Bayern 5 - Sep 12 2009
"We have to work hard in midfield and not allow them too much space," said Klopp beforehand, but while Mats Hummels opened the scoring, goals from Mario Gomez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Franck Ribery and a Thomas Muller brace ensured an emphatic win for the visitors.
The goal by Ribery was particularly significant as the Frenchman pointedly sprinted to celebrate with Van Gaal, ending speculation about a rift between the two men. "I am always pleased when a player wants to celebrate his goal with me," said Van Gaal. "Franck has shown that he loves his coach."
Bayern 3 Dortmund 1 - Feb 13 2010
Dortmund competed for much of the match in Munich but the game ended in defeat for the visitors - a tenth in a row for Klopp against Bayern. Mohamed Zidan gave Dortmund the lead but goals from Mark van Bommel, Arjen Robben and Gomez took the game away from them.
Klopp put some of the blame on referee Knut Kircher - "these mistakes do not make it more fun" - but also pointed to his team's missed chances. "We had several huge opportunities," he said afterwards. "Still, it was a strong performance by my boys."
Dortmund 2 Bayern 0 - Oct 3 2010
Klopp finally got a win over Bayern and his team's sixth in a row as they punished Van Gaal's men at the Westfalenstadion. Goals from Lucas Barrios and Nuri Sahin heaped the pressure on the Dutchman after a difficult start to the season.
"It's high time everybody woke up," said Uli Hoeness after seeing Bayern succumb to a third defeat in seven games. Van Gaal, meanwhile, urged calm. "The season is still very long," he said. "It is difficult, but we must have faith." Even so, Bayern's Oktoberfest celebrations were cancelled.
Bayern 1 Dortmund 3 - Feb 26 2011
Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke had called the title talk "totally unrealistic" after the first match against Bayern but by February it was a very different situation. A 3-1 win in Munich, their first Bundesliga victory there in two decades, ended Bayern's hopes and put BVB on the brink.
Barrios scored early and while Luiz Gustavo levelled things up, goals by Sahin and Hummels earned Dortmund the points - taking them 16 clear of Bayern. This was the youngest Dortmund side in Bundesliga history with an average age of 22 and even Van Gaal admitted they "deserved to win".
Liverpool 0 Manchester United 1 - Jan 17 2016
Klopp's first experience of Liverpool and Manchester United's famous rivalry ended in bitter disappointment at Anfield. The hosts bombarded the opposition goal, having 19 shots to United's seven, but they were let down by poor finishing and frustrated by David de Gea's heroics.
Van Gaal admitted United were second best in the first half, but they withstood Liverpool's pressure before Rooney thumped home a loose ball in the 78th minute after Marouane Fellaini's header had struck the crossbar. It was the striker's first goal in 11 years at Anfield. "We lost a game that we should not have lost," said a rueful Klopp.
What does this tell us about Klopp?
For Klopp, games against Van Gaal offer the contrast between chaos and control; the importance of pressing versus possession. He'll be encouraged by the knowledge that it can work but has also experienced what can happen when his team doesn't get it right.
The German has had particular joy early on against his Dutch counterpart. His sides have scored within the first 10 minutes in three of their first four matches against each other and the sort of aggressive pressing witnessed in the 4-1 win over Manchester City in October could be the template.
"The first 30 or 35 minutes was as good as anything I can remember, not from Klopp or any Liverpool team, but in the Premier League," said Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher after that game. "It was like the Red Arrows watching Liverpool, they were just running through people all the time."
But while high-intensity pressing could give the Reds an early advantage, January's meeting at Anfield showed a gameplan is worthless if you can't finish your chances.
What does this tell us about Van Gaal?
In a sense, the series of Bundesliga games against Klopp's Dortmund are a microcosm of Van Gaal's problems at United. There were signs of control in the first season but what was once perceived as clinical soon came to be seen as sterile.
In the season prior to Van Gaal's arrival, Bayern's game against Dortmund made Bundesliga history. There were 48 shots, the most since records began, with 35 of them coming from Bayern. In the first meeting between the sides in 2010, Bayern had only 11 shots to Dortmund's 17 but won 3-1.
The next time that the teams met, Bayern once again controlled possession, enjoying 62 per cent of the ball, but by this stage they couldn't find the net. The reduction in the number of chances was not seen as a factor by Van Gaal, and yet his words will feel familiar to United fans.
"We dominate and create four, five chances and we don't score," said Van Gaal. "Dortmund don't have any chances but the first shot on goal goes in." Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge put it slightly differently. "We have concerns," he said. "We have to start to score."
Curiously, though, the opposite was true at Anfield in January, when United scored with their only shot on target and Liverpool missed a host of chances.
Conclusion
Styles make fights and if history is a clue then Klopp versus Van Gaal promises to entertain. Klopp's gegenpressing or Van Gaal's control?
Will Manchester United leave Anfield with a first-leg lead? Or will Liverpool make their home advantage count? Let us know your prediction using the message boards or by tweeting @SkyFootball
