Marcelo Bielsa and his followers

Although he doesn't like to admit it, Marcelo Bielsa has imposed a style of coaching that has become influential. His training methods and football ideas have been replicated by national team coaches and club managers. Jorge Sampaoli, the champion of the Copa America with Chile, is a confessed follower of his tactical doctrine; the same goes for Gerardo Martino of Argentina, who was coached by Bielsa in the nineties.

The list is long and this Sunday in Bogota, two of Bielsa's close pupils will face each other in the third round of the Liga Aguila. Ricardo Lunari from Millonarios and Javier Torrente from Once Caldas follow the "Bielsista" manual to the letter, which advocates high pressure to maintain Marcelo's style: offensive proposal above all; intensity and ball recovery as the foundation.

Lunari's Connection

Ricardo Lunari has known Bielsa since his time in the youth divisions of Newell's Old Boys. He remembers being coached by him in the fourth division when he was 16 years old and continued with the same group of players until 1992 when they became champions in the first division. As a player, he recalls anecdotes that portray the personality of the Argentine coach, from whom he adopted concepts that he applies in his first experiences as a coach.

"Going forward. That's what weighs on us the most, the madness for attacking, for always seeking the opposing goal. Of course, that Newell's team also focused on the defensive aspect. Here, little by little, I am achieving that with the boys," said Lunari as Millonarios' coach about the maximum teaching of the DT.

Although he has had little contact with his mentor throughout his career as a coach, Lunari takes Bielsa's philosophy further. At the beginning of the previous season, he neglected the midfield marking to add more attacking players. A series of adverse results made him adjust the scheme. He put Rafael Robayo as a complement to Fabian Vargas and David Silva, and Millonarios looked more balanced.

"I always said that I would not betray my style, that's why today I returned to my idea of play, to what I like," he exclaimed proudly after a victory over Pasto.

Torrente's Connection

Javier Torrente joined Marcelo Bielsa's coaching staff at a very young age. As part of his technical team, he coached Ricardo Lunari at Newell's Old Boys. After 10 years by Bielsa's side, he took his own path and coached in Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina. He reunited with his master at Olympique de Marseille, where they idolize him for his work in the previous season.

"Ten years by Bielsa's side gives you infinite learning," he told Diario Ole in 2009. "My proposal is offensive, sometimes it can be put into practice, sometimes not. We don't give up anything, we look at the opposing goal and seek to be effective, with good ball possession," he added.

He joined Once Caldas at the end of May. He immediately made his principles clear. With little time to work, in the league debut against Independiente Medellin at the Atanasio Girardot, his team showed its features. They attacked with width, especially on the right side with Piedrahita and Salazar who covered their flank in attack and defense. The defenders pressed with coordinated movements and prevented the attackers from having a clear shot at goal.

Lunari told AS Colombia that Torrente is a coach who "knows a lot about football, he's passionate and impulsive as you may have seen (laughs), he shares a lot of Marcelo's ideas. Surely, when he manages to build and consolidate his team, they will be very aggressive, as he likes it."

In two months of work, the team from Manizales is starting to assimilate the doctrine. Play fast, have the attacking players block the opposing full-backs.

Lunari vs. Torrente

They face each other in the third round of the league. Millonarios has one point from their only match against Pasto, while Once Caldas has two draws against the runners-up DIM and Junior.

The coach of Millonarios says that he has a good relationship with Torrente and he anticipated to AS what he expects from the match at El Campin:

"From them, I expect them to try to regain the ball near the opponent's goal to make a difference right away. We are not interested in the zone where we regain possession, but rather the intensity and speed with which we want to reach the opponent's goal. We are very similar."

In other words, pure "Bielsism."