Three years later, in September 2022, the co-founder of drinks manufacturer Red Bull, was dying of pancreatic cancer. Mateschitz would have barely a month to live when he invited a special guest to one of his villas close to Salzburg, the city in Austria where his empire is based. That guest was Jurgen Klopp, then Liverpool ’s manager.

Across a quarter of a century and three clubs, Jurgen Klopp had forged a reputation as the people’s champion, the charismatic communicator with the capacity to get everyone to buy into what he was doing.

Fans of Bundesliga club Mainz unfurled banners criticising their former manager Jurgen Klopp during a 2-0 defeat to RB Leipzig on Saturday. The German ended his nine-year stint with Liverpool in