This afternoon's Champions League final promises a treble winner and a tense tactical battle between Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gaal who worked together at Barcelona in the '90s.
Van Gaal, the master in this case, is vying to become only the third manager to win Europe's premier club competition with three different teams. On the other hand, Mourinho is looking for his second after winning with Porto 2004.
The tactics will be different from both men, with Inter Mourinho is likely to stick to his trademark "win at all costs" style while Van Gaal's Bayern side is likely to play a more expansive game.
In the build up to the match Van Gaal talks about his team's chances, their style and is playing up his role as mentor to Mourinho. After demoting Mourinho from assistant manager to trainer and video analyst at Barca: "He was angry," recalls Van Gaal, "He was irritated and shouted."
Mourinho, usually a master in the mind-game department seems distracted this time around, and has spent more time talking about his possible move to Real Madrid in the summer than the actual match. When discussing Inter last week Mourinho said "This is not my home. This is not an easy place to work and be happy." Early this week he added, "I want to coach Real Madrid 100%. Whether it's next year or later, I cannot say."
For me, this is the essential difference between the two managers, and the one that will lead Bayern to the title. Van Gaal is focused on his team, the style with which they play and maybe the odd jab at his former charge, while Mourinho talks about how unhappy he is at Inter and what his next job will be after the final.
It conveys a sense that the outcome isn't important to him that will spread through the Inter team much like the distraction he caused during his last days at Chelsea.
Because of this, Bayern 3-1!
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