Bayern Munich boss Louis van Gaal admits he never expected Jose Mourinho to become such a successful coach after working with him earlier in their careers.

Van Gaal's Bayern will take on Mourinho's Inter Milan on Saturday night in the UEFA Champions League final, marking the first time the two coaches have gone up against each other.

But they worked together at Barcelona back in 1997, when Van Gaal took charge at the Spanish club, and the Dutch manager concedes that while his Portuguese counterpart made an impact on him even then, he could not have predicted what he would go on to achieve.

Angry

"I had an initial meeting with (then Barca president Josep Lluis) Nunez and (coach) Bobby Robson. Mourinho was present. I thought they were going to offer me the job of head of the youth team, but they offered me the coach's job," said Van Gaal.

"Mourinho was angry, really angry. Furious. He was already the 'Special One'. That's partly why I hired him - it's my philosophy.

"But I didn't think he would go on to become such an important coach as he is today."

Van Gaal repaid Mourinho for his decision to stay at Camp Nou by extending his assistant's responsibilities and even allowing him to take over in a coaching capacity for some less important cup matches.

"He could have left (when Robson was relieved of his coaching duties) but he wanted to stay with me. He was a very good co-trainer and produced some fantastic reports," said Van Gaal.

"In fact, I did something I had never done before - I let him coach (matches)."

Both Van Gaal and Mourinho have the opportunity to lead their side to an historic Treble of league, cup and Champions League on Saturday and individually could join the elite list of managers who have guided two separate teams to European Cup success.

Whichever manager achieves that feat on Saturday, Van Gaal believes both will eventually go on to grace that particular hall of fame, adding: "I think we will both go on to do it, whoever wins this game."

Mourinho, meanwhile, has named Van Gaal as a key influence in his development as a coach.

Lessons

"He is a great coach and I learned a lot from him, my time with him definitely marked me," said Mourinho.

"I worked like a beast, but it was a pleasure and I learnt from him; one of the things I learnt was that to be successful you have to work very hard."

Mourinho insists that, whatever the outcome of Saturday's final, the two managers will remain solid friends.

He added: "What I told him by text when we qualified for the final was 'a big hug before the final, a big hug after the final'."


- Sky Sports