Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is preparing to manage his third Champions League final and is regarded as one of the best coaches on the planet.

And, in the past, he has often spoken about the influence former Milan head coach Arrigo Sacchi has had on his career.

Klopp is known to favour the high press, a tactical style which served Sacchi well as he created one of the all-time great sides as the Rossoneri won the European Cup in back-to-back years in 1989 and 1990.

Speaking after he reached his first Champions League final as manager of Borussia Dortmund in 2013, Klopp told Italian TV where Sacchi was a pundit: “I never met him [Sacchi] but I learnt everything I am as a coach.

“My former coach, Wolfgang Frank, he took it off him [Sacchi] and we knew if Arrigo Sacchi can do what he did with [Paolo] Maldini, [Franco] Baresi, [Demetrio] Albertini and all these guys then we can do the same – OK not so good but… tactical discipline, it’s not problem. If they can do it, we can do it.

“My team is 10% of the team of Arrigo Sacchi.”

He reiterated his admiration for Sacchi ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Milan at Anfield to kick off their Champions League campaign earlier this season. He said in a press conference: “Arrigo Sacchi has my number and he uses it from time to time and I obviously replied but I don’t want to bother him with actual questions. I would never do that. 

“But he is not only one of the best managers ever in this game, he is a very nice person on top of that. And he was one of the most influential managers at least for me and for the way I like football because he organised the pitch in a different way with the formation he chose.  

“I tried to figure out everything I could about it [Sacchi’s style] when I was a younger coach. And that helped me a lot. 

“They controlled games. It looked so easy but it wasn’t. Just because they organised the pitch much smarter than all the others so [he is] a very impressive person.”

Sacchi was manager of one of the all-time great Italian sides with his Milan side dominating Europe towards the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, playing a style which at the time was a complete revelation.

Milan’s 4-0 win over Steaua Bucharest in the 1989 European Cup final is considered one of the all-time great team performances.

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