Jose Mourinho is close to winning his third Premier League title
Southampton boss Koeman worked as an assistant to Louis van Gaal at the Nou Camp between 1998 and 2000, while Mourinho was acting as translator and adviser.
The pair meet once again this weekend in the Premier League as Koeman takes his men to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with Mourinho close to winning his third career English championship.
And Koeman revealed the coaching set-up at Barca - where Louis van Gaal took over from Sir Bobby Robson a year into Mouirnho's arrival - greatly shaped Mourinho's development.
We couldn t cope with the pressure- Mourinho [AMBIENT]
"I know him very well," Koeman said. "It's a good friend and great coach and a very successful manager.
"It was nice in our period in Barcelona and it's always nice to meet Jose and we look forward.
"When I was with Jose the assistant of Van Gaal in Barcelona in '98 and '99, it was a long time ago and it's not always easy to know what will happen in the future.
"At that time he was very ambitious as a coach and he had good coaches to see what he needs to be a successful coach."
Mourinho went on win the Champions League with Porto four years after leaving Barca, before beginning his first stint at Chelsea.
Koeman, meanwhile, won two Dutch titles managing Ajax and a further one with PSV before eventually taking the reins at Southampton.
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