It will be Jurgen Klopp vs Carlo Ancelotti when Liverpool take on Real Madrid in the final of this season's Champions League at Stade de France.
The two will be in the dugout as they attempt to outwit each other with their tactics. Both Klopp and Ancelotti are not new to this experience, having won the Champions League before. The two are among the greatest managers in the beautiful game's history.
They have won numerous titles with different clubs and are not stopping anytime soon. With the two set to go against each other on Saturday night, Pulse Sports Nigeria takes a look at their records in major finals.
Jurgen Klopp
Klopp could lay claim to being the best manager in the world, but his record in cup finals is mixed. The Liverpool tactician started his managerial journey later than his rival on Saturday.
ALSO READ: Video: 5 Best Champions League Final Goals of All-time
QUIZ: Can you name all 66 clubs that have won the UEFA Champions League?
His first job was with Mainz, taking the role in 2001 after retiring as a player with the same club. However, his first final was with Dortmund, a club he joined in 2008. Klopp won his first major cup final with Dortmund.
Although he beat Bayern in the final of the German Super Cup in his first year as Dortmund's manager, it did not count as it was an unofficial trophy. Klopp's first major trophy in a cup final came in 2012.
Having led the Black and Yellow to the German Bundesliga in the 2010/2011 season, the 54-year-old did the domestic double the following year, winning the league and beating Bayern Munich 5-2 in the DFB-Pokal Final.
But following his victory in 2012, Klopp's luck suffered a little. He led Dortmund to the 2013 Champions League final but lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich. To make matters worse, Dortmund also finished as runners-up in the league in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons.
Klopp did win the German Super Cup in 2014 and 2015 but lost the DFB-Pokal finals in both years. The 54-year-old left Dortmund at the end of a disappointing 2014/2015 season.
Klopp did not wait for too long before his next appointment, taking over at Liverpool on October 8, 2015.
Klopp's time at Anfield has been a massive success so far, but he had to overcome some early disappointments. In his first year with Liverpool, he lost to Sevilla in the Europa League Final and Manchester City in the League Cup final.
His poor run continued two years later as Liverpool lost to Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final.
However, Klopp finally ended his unlucky run with Champions League success a year later. The German led Liverpool to a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the 2019 final.
The victory marked the beginning of greater things at Liverpool. The Reds won the UEFA Super Cup in 2019 under Klopp before winning the league and the FIFA Club World Cup in the 2019/2020 season.
Although the 2020/2021 season turned out to be a disappointing year, Liverpool have been excellent this year under Klopp, winning the League Cup and FA Cup.
Klopp could now end the season on a high by winning the greatest prize in club football. It's also important to note that he won with teams that were the underdogs in most of the finals he managed. Overall, Klopp has won eight finals in his career.
Carlo Ancelotti
Ancelotti started his managerial career earlier than Klopp, but surprisingly, he never played in a lot of major finals aside from the Champions League.
He started his career at Reggiana before moving to Parma and then Juventus. The Italian won the Intertoto Cup with Juventus, but it does not count as it is not considered an official trophy.
Ancelotti's first real piece of silverware was with AC Milan, winning the Coppa Italia in the 2002/2003 season. He backed the Coppa Italia victory up with his first Champions League title in the same season.
The Rossoneri defeated Juventus via penalties in the 2003 final at Old Trafford. He also led Milan to the UEFA Super Cup that same year.
The Super Cup and the Italian Serie A were the two titles Ancelotti won in the 2003/2004 season. The 2004/2005 campaign was worse, with Milan winning only the Italian Super Cup.
Ancelotti led Milan to the 2005 Champions League final, but the Rossoneri blew a three-goal lead to Liverpool to lose on penalties.
He did not have much luck either in the 2005/2006 season, but he won his second Champions League trophy a year later, with Milan gaining their revenge by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final.
As a result, he added the UEFA Super Cup and World Club Cup to his title collections.
Ancelotti left Milan in 2009 to join Chelsea. Although he won the league in his first season with the Blues, his only final with Chelsea was the FA Cup, which he won in 2010. He also won the Community Shield, which is like the English Super Cup.
His tenure at Stamford Bridge was quite short as he was sacked in 2011. After leaving Chelsea, Ancelotti took over PSG, where he won only the league title.
His time in Paris was similar to his spell at Chelsea. Ancelotti left PSG in 2013 to join Real Madrid. At Real Madrid, he had great success in the finals, winning the Champions League and Copa Del Rey in the 2013/2014 campaign.
Los Blancos defeated Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final and Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey. Following Madrid's success in Europe, Ancelotti won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in the 2014/2015 season.
However, he was sacked at the end of that campaign. After a season without a job, Ancelotti took over at Bayern Munich in the 2015/2016 campaign.
Although he won the league with the Bavaria giants, his other two titles at the clubs were the German Super Cup. After leaving Bayern, Ancelotti managed Napoli and Everton but never reached a major final with any of the two teams.
He returned to Real Madrid this season, where he has already won the Spanish title and Spanish Super Cup.
Overall, he has won 16 finals, but only the Champions League, FA Cups, Coppa Del Rey and Coppa Italia stand out.
Who has a better finals record between Klopp and Ancelotti?
Ancelotti edges out Klopp, but it is important to note that he started managing before the German and has only managed two teams that could be considered underdogs.