They may coach on opposite sides of Le Classique, but Olympique de Marseille's André Villas-Boas thinks Paris Saint-Germain cohort Thomas Tuchel should have been on the recent shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's Coach award.
World football's governing bo dy released their shortlists on Wednesday, and although Neymar and Kylian Mbappé made the shortlist for the Men's Player award and their PSG teammate Keylor Navas for the Men's Goalkeeper title, there was no space for the man who oversaw their run to August's UEFA Champions League final.
Former Marseille and LOSC coach Marcelo Bielsa, now of Leeds United, was among the five, alongside Real Madrid's France '98 World Cup hero Zinedine Zidane, Bayern Munich's Hansi Flick, Liverpool's Jürgen Klopp and Julen Lopetegui of Sevilla; but for Villas-Boas, Tuchel should have been among them.
Watch: Villas-Boas got the better of Tuchel when their sides last met in September
"Bielsa must win a prestige trophy, for his career, for the beautiful football he has shown, everyone recognised it," the Portuguese tactician explained in Friday's press conference ahead of OM's reception of FC Nantes on Saturday. "But for Tuchel not to be in the top five coaches in the world in 2020 is a scandal. He won the championship, he won four trophies and was in the Champions League final."
Tuchel has won six major honours since being appointed PSG coach in 2018, last season sealing the Ligue 1 Uber Eats, Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France titles before his side were edged 1-0 by Flick's Bayern in the Champions League showpiece.
Villas-Boas and Tuchel will resume their increasingly-friendly rivalry on 7 February, when Marseille welcome PSG to Orange Vélodrome in Round 24 of the domestic league season.