"Did he feel guilty for surviving or did he compromise himself to stay alive?

"Or, perhaps it was that the memories were just too painful to share and that the loss of so many of his loved ones meant he didn't speak about it.

"He was hugely successful but there was something tragic about him, which probably comes from that time."

Famine

While family members, including a brother, perished in concentration camps, Guttmann escaped to Switzerland where he was held in internment.

It wasn't until the end of the war in 1945 that he returned to football, this time in Romania.

It was here, in 1946 with club side Ciokanul, that he demanded to be paid in vegetables at a time when famine was a growing problem.

While parsnips and carrots were gratefully received, Guttmann's relationship with the board was never a particularly healthy one. When a club director began to interfere in team selection, Guttmann finally lost patience.

His fiery temper and attitude of "my way or the highway" earned him plenty of attention, especially from the media.

Following spells with Padova and Triestina in Italy, Boca Juniors and Quilmes in Argentina and Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus, Guttmann hit the big time with AC Milan in 1953.

His team led the Serie A table after 19 games in his second season, only for another run-in with the board to curtail his tenure.

"I have been sacked, even though I am neither a criminal nor a homosexual," he told a shocked press conference. "Goodbye."

Nomadic career

Years later, on his first day as the manager of Benfica, he fired 20 players before leading the club to the Portuguese title.

"He was an incredible man," Wilson said. "Did he become a parody of himself? Did he do those kind of things because people expected it?

"I don't know. But it was clear that he never wanted to stay in one place for long, he was always moving.

"That could have been because of the war, but also because he was looking for the next pay check."

It was in Portugal, after a successful spell in South America, that Guttmann really secured his legacy, securing back-to-back European Cups with Benfica in 1961 and 1962.

It was the first time that any club other than Real Madrid had won the competition.

During his time in Brazil with Sao Paulo between 1957 and 1958, where he won the league title before moving to Porto, Guttmann introduced the 4-2-4 system which Brazil used at the 1958 World Cup.