New Man Utd boss Rangnick already has the measure of Klopp but Tuchel a tougher not to crack

Paul Okey
29 November 2021

Liverpool manager has only beaten Rangnick twice in 13 attempts, while Chelsea boss has four wins from five head to heads.

Ralf Rangnick's tenure as interim manager of Manchester United may not have officially begun but he is already a well known adversary for two Premier League bosses.

Rangnick has faced Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel 18 times in his managerial career and boasts wildly contrasting records against the two Premier League heavyweights.

Rangnick has faced Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp 13 times while in charge of Hannover 96, Schalke and Hoffenheim and only lost on two occasions. The first of those came in 2005 when Klopp was in charge of Mainz, while the second was a 2-1 defeat for Hoffenheim at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in 2009.

Of the other 11 meetings between Rangnick and Klopp, the new United boss has won six and drawn five.

Four of those victories occurred when Klopp was in charge of Mainz, but the largest - a 4-1 thrashing - came in 2008 when the duo were in charge of Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund, respectively.

Rangnick also boasts a victory in the most recent meeting between the two German bosses, with Schalke edging out Borussia Dortmund 4-3 on penalties to win the DFL-Supercup in 2011.

Tuchel, meanwhile, has only gone head to head with the 63-year-old five times.

Nevertheless, he has recorded four wins over his fellow countryman, all as manager of Mainz.

Three times they came against Hoffenheim, with a fourth win when Rangnick was at the helm of Schalke.

A fifth successive victory looked on the cards in August 2011 when Mainz opened up an early 2-0 lead in their Bundesliga clash against Schalke.

However, two tactical substitutions at the break from Rangnick, who introduced Jefferson Farfan and Julian Draxler, proved the catalyst for a stirring comeback from the visitors. Klass-Jan Huntelaar pulled one back in the 57th minute before Benedikt Howedes equalised seven minutes later. Joel Matip then put Schalke ahead and Christian Fuchs rounded off the victory with a free-kick in added time.

Brendan Rodgers is the only other Premier League manager to have pitted his wits against Rangnick and his experience came slightly more recently. The Leicester manager faced Rangnick while manager of Celtic in Group B of the Europa League in 2018.

The Bhoys suffered a 2-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in their away fixture but got a measure of revenge thanks to a 2-1 home win.

Leipzig's shock 1-1 draw with Rosenborg in their final group match then allowed Celtic to sneak through to the knockout stages at the German side's expense.