It is odd to think of Maurizio Sarri as a coming power and Jose Mourinho as a fading force, given Manchester United's manager is four years younger than Chelsea's boss.
But Sarri's postponed entrance into elite football after a career in banking gives him a peculiar freshness at the age of 59.
Mourinho had that when he first arrived on the scene more than a decade ago at Porto then Chelsea.
Even as he was winning the Champions League in 2004 he still stood as an outsider to the elite, having started out as PE teacher and translator.