Image: RAIGO PAJULA (AFP)
Image: APA
The team boss duel between Ralf Rangnick and Julian Nagelsmann is not without a certain piquancy, after all, the two have already crossed paths several times. The ÖFB coach is considered a sponsor and teacher of the German national coach.
As Rangnick said at the most recent squad announcement, he became aware of Nagelsmann at a youth match in 2006 as the then Hoffenheim coach. They stayed in touch, exchanged ideas regularly, and mutual appreciation grew, while Rangnick formed a Bundesliga club from TSG and Nagelsmann gained further experience in the youth sector.
Contact since 2006
The now 65-year-old moved on to Schalke in 2011 and joined Red Bull in 2012. Meanwhile, Nagelsmann worked his way up at Hoffenheim. When he was promoted to the professionals in February 2016, at the age of 28, he was the youngest full-time head coach in the history of the German Bundesliga. Nagelsmann took over TSG as second-to-last in the table and managed to stay in the league with one round to go. This was followed by fourth and third place in the table and thus participation in the Champions League – Nagelsmann finally became a young German coaching star in 2018.
Image: APA
That made him interesting for the then Leipzig sports director Rangnick. Nagelsmann signed with RB starting with the 2019/20 season, and in the season in between, Rangnick also took over as coach at the Saxons after parting ways with Ralph Hasenhüttl. This season, Rangnick and Nagelsmann met twice in the league and once in the DFB Cup. The ÖFB team boss won twice and one game ended in a draw.
“It wouldn’t have been much fun for me or Julian”
Also this season, rumors arose that the relationship between the two was no longer in good shape. Nagelsmann and Rangnick denied this, but the latter withdrew as sports director after Nagelsmann took office in Leipzig. “It wouldn’t have been much fun for me or Julian,” said Rangnick at the time. In his opinion, any gesture might have been misinterpreted.
Nagelsmann continued his successes in Leipzig and led the Saxons to the Champions League semi-finals in 2020. A year later, Bayern responded to Hansi Flick’s move to the DFB and bought Nagelsmann out of his contract for 20 million euros – such a high transfer fee had never been paid for a coach. But things never really went well for Nagelsmann at the record champion, even if the championship title was on the horizon in 2022, and so last March he was released with great fanfare.
Similar idea of football
Six months later, Nagelsmann followed Flick again, now as German team boss. Rangnick welcomed this decision. Two years earlier, Nagelsmann had campaigned for Rangnick as DFB coach after Jogi Löw’s departure. In public, people only spoke highly of each other. “We have similar ideas about football,” said Rangnick a few years ago.
Some current ÖFB team players have already been able to get an idea of this. Marcel Sabitzer, Florian Grillitsch, Stefan Posch, Konrad Laimer and Christoph Baumgartner also played under the guidance of Nagelsmann, as did Stefan Ilsanker, Hannes Wolf and Robert Zulj.
more from the national team
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I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
