When Liverpool take on Chelsea in the EFL Cup final on Sunday afternoon, it won't just be two elite teams coming up against each other - but two elite managers.
Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and Chelsea's Thomas Tuchel are undoubtedly two of the best coaches on the planet, winning 20 trophies between them.
And their careers are remarkably similar. Both are German, started at Mainz, managed Borussia Dortmund and won the Champions League with an English team.
Only one of them, however, will be victorious at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
Here, Mirror Football takes a look at their respective journeys - and why they might not be that similar after all.
Who will win the EFL Cup final? Let us know in the comments below!
First steps to Wembley
Klopp is six years older than Tuchel, yet their coaching careers started around the same time in very different circumstances.
The current Liverpool boss was a legend at Mainz, making more than 300 appearances for the second-tier outfit before becoming their manager in February 2001.
Tuchel, meanwhile, didn't enjoy similar success on the field. A knee cartilage injury forced him to retire aged 24 in 1998.
Two years later, he was appointed as a youth-team coach by current Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick and started working his way up the managerial ladder.
"I was a normal student, but to make some extra money, I worked in a bar once or twice a week, which was actually a fantastic time in my life," recalled Tuchel last November.
"Ralf called me because he was my former coach. He knew I was in Stuttgart studying. He asked me if I could imagine trying in the academy.
"I got into contact with the academy... I still worked in the bar while I was coach and I still finished my economics studies. But he opened the door."
While Tuchel was establishing himself at Stuttgart, Klopp was on to something special at Mainz.
Against the odds, he kept the struggling minnows in the second tier by winning six of his first seven games in charge and built a team capable of promotion.
After two near misses, Klopp finally reached the Bundesliga for the first time in Mainz's history in 2003-04 and, two years later, they were playing in Europe.
Mainz's top-flight journey - for the time being, at least - finished in 2006-07, as they were relegated back to the second tier.
Klopp stayed at his beloved club and, even though they failed to get promotion the following year, his efforts as both a player and a manager have never been forgotten.
"It’s the place where I grew up," Klopp told the ECHO in 2016. "After the town where I was born, Mainz is my home town
"I still have a lot of friends there. I love the club. It’s a wonderful club. And I love the idea that I can introduce Liverpool to Mainz and Mainz to Liverpool."
Bundesliga success
Klopp eventually left Mainz in May 2008, as Borussia Dortmund came calling.
The German giants had struggled in recent years - finishing 13th the previous season - and Klopp was keen to build a new squad who could challenge for the title.
The likes of Lucas Barrios, Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Mats Hummels, Nuri Sahin and Shinji Kagawa emerged, as Dortmund took the Bundesliga by storm.
Klopp's side won two German titles, the German Cup and three German Super Cups - as well as reach the Champions League final in May 2013.
And had it not been for a resurgent Bayern Munich, Dortmund would've probably won even more under the now world-famous coach.
Klopp's time at Westfalenstadion came to an end in the summer of 2015, saying goodbye after a worrying campaign.
Dortmund lost seven of their first ten Bundesliga games in 2014-15 and, until February, were at risk of suffering a surprise relegation.
They rallied in the second half of the season to salvage seventh and Europa League football, yet their manager knew his time was up.
"I really think the decision is the right one," said an emotional Klopp in April 2015. "This club deserves to be coached from the 100 per cent right manager."
On hearing the news, Match of the Day host Gary Lineker tweeted: "Be good to see him in the Premier League. Great character." His wish would soon come true.
Over at Mainz, Klopp had been replaced by Jorn Andersen - a Norwegian coach who won promotion to the Bundesliga in his first and only season in charge.
Despite his success, Mainz's hierarchy knew he wasn't the right man to take them forward and turned to Tuchel - who'd achieved significant success in his early coaching career.
Tuchel had won the U19 Bundesliga title with Stuttgart and had spotted the coaching talents of Julian Nagelsmann - an injury-prone defender - at Augsburg.
After a brief spell in charge of the latter club's second team, he was snapped up by Mainz in the summer of 2009 and established the club in the Bundesliga.
During Tuchel's six-year spell in charge, Mainz finished fifth and twice qualified for the Europa League. Not even Klopp had reached those heights.
And, with Klopp departing Dortmund, an opportunity at one of Germany's biggest clubs was opening up for Tuchel.
Trophies, trophies and more trophies
Tuchel was appointed Dortmund's manager in the summer of 2015 and made a good start to his tenure, finishing second in both the league and cup in his first term.
He couldn't guide the German outfit to European success, however, as his predecessor thwarted him.
Klopp's time out of work was brief, as he replaced Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool manager in October 2015.
He made an immediate impact, guiding the Reds to EFL Cup and Europa League finals.
Liverpool reached the latter final after a stunning quarter-final victory against Tuchel's Dortmund, scoring three goals in the last 30 minutes to snatch an unlikely win.
Within six months of his appointment, Klopp had won the love and appreciation of the Anfield faithful with an Istanbul-esque comeback.
"I reminded the players about Liverpool being 3-0 down in the Champions League final," said Klopp. "It was brilliant, outstanding, emotional."
Although Liverpool lost both finals in 2016, it was a sign of things to come.
Every 12 months after the Europa League final, they achieved an even greater success on their way to a first league title in 30 years - Liverpool's holy grail.
Champions League qualification in 2017, a Champions League final in 2018, Champions League victory in 2019 and - at long last - the Premier League trophy in 2020.
Tuchel, meanwhile, was also picking up the honours. He guided Dortmund to the German Cup in 2017 before being sensationally sacked three days later.
He returned to management in May 2018, taking the tricky Paris Saint-Germain job and almost delivering them the Champions League title - losing the final in 2020 to Bayern Munich.
Nevertheless, he still won two Ligue 1 titles, the French Cup, the French League Cup and two French Super Cups.
Tuchel would get his chance to lift the Champions League - joining Chelsea in January 2021 and beating Manchester City in the final four months later.
Since then, he's added the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup to the Blues' packed trophy cabinet. It's been some rise for both managers.
How similar are they?
Because of they've managed similar clubs, come from the same country and have both won plenty of trophies, Klopp and Tuchel are constantly compared.
Yet they've never worked together. As Tuchel says, "It's nice to be compared because he's one of the best coaches in Europe.
"On one hand it's nice because it tells you you've reached a certain level, and then at some point, it's not nice because it does not tell the truth.
"I like him a lot and I am full of respect and we have good times when we meet in coaches' meetings, there is no doubt about it, but we are not half as close as everybody thinks.
"And we also do not have the years in clubs where we are in exchange, or where I can really learn from him, from his coaching methods, because I was never there when he was there."
Klopp and Tuchel play similar styles of football, have enjoyed familiar managerial journeys and are at the peak of their powers. Their similarities are unavoidable.
But, as they've achieved so much success in their respective careers, it feels unfair to pigeonhole the two. And, come Sunday afternoon, everyone will realise the difference.
One will break their English cup duck, while the other will be left envious. This season's EFL Cup is one thing they simply can't share.
