Martín Demichelis makes his Champions League coaching debut with RB Leipzig against Como

Some debuts come with baggage. Martín Demichelis's first game as a Champions League coach is one of them. On September 10, at age 45, the Argentine will take a bench in Europe's top competition for the first time, with his RB Leipzig side visiting Como, one of the newcomers and pleasant surprises in Italian soccer of late. It's a curious matchup: two clubs debuting together in different facets of the same tournament.

Demichelis arrived at Leipzig this year looking to relaunch his career after an uneven stint at Mallorca, where he posted solid numbers, including a win over Real Madrid, but couldn't prevent relegation. Before that, his exit from River Plate in early 2024 had left a bitter taste, marked by a conflict with Enzo Pérez despite having won the Primera División title just a year earlier. In Germany, Micho found something like a soccer home away from home: he built much of his playing career there, and now he's giving it another shot, this time as a coach.

A debut steeped in history

Demichelis's relationship with the Champions League runs deep. He made his debut as a player on September 30, 2003, in a 1-1 road draw against Anderlecht, just weeks after being transferred from River to Bayern Munich. Strangely enough, he played as a holding midfielder in front of Oliver Kahn that day. Years later he recalled how that habit began:

When I got to Germany, Hitzfeld gathered the four center backs and told us one of us had to play as a No. 5 because of injuries and suspensions. I volunteered right away, it went well, and I ended up playing that position for my first three years there, between 2003 and 2006.Martín Demichelis

In Anderlecht's lineup that day was a 17-year-old defender named Vincent Kompany, who would later be Demichelis's teammate at Manchester City. Fate has brought them together again: Kompany now manages Bayern Munich, and the two coaches will soon face off, this time in the Bundesliga.

From the Bayern final to the Málaga epic

Wearing the Bavarian jersey, Demichelis was a regular fixture in the Champions League for nearly a decade, with the sole exception of the 2007/08 season. He scored twice in the 2005/06 edition and played in the 2010 final, a 2-0 loss to José Mourinho's Inter, with Diego Milito delivering a two-goal blow.

His time at Málaga, however, stands as one of the most unusual chapters of his career. He arrived in 2011 to help the club avoid relegation and ended up part of a historic Champions League qualification the following year. Under Manuel Pellegrini, the Andalusian side went unbeaten and finished first in a group that included Milan, Anderlecht and Zenit, before falling in the quarterfinals to Jürgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund in a tie decided on aggregate in stoppage time.

Manchester City came next, where he won domestic titles but could never help the club crack its European obsession. Reflecting on that struggle once, he offered a line that rings true again now, from his new role:

The Champions League is beautiful and full of surprises. At the same time, it's very tough: Guardiola took seven years to win it, and he could sign any player he wanted.Martín Demichelis

Now, with a Leipzig side that has far less firepower than the giants he once wore the jersey for, Demichelis starts from scratch. As a coach, everything is still unwritten.