Marcelo Bielsa has adapted to the unpredictability of the Championship reasonably well over the course of his time in-charge of Leeds United, with the Whites rarely dropping out of promotion contention with the Argentine at the helm.

Leeds had been the second-tier’s major underachievers before Bielsa’s arrival, and whilst El Loco has to deliver the ultimate aim of promotion still, his sides are comfortably amongst the best in the Championship and are rarely bettered.

The Championship is so difficult to get right and many questioned how the former Argentina head-coach would adapt to the division when he arrived in the summer of 2018. However, he’s proved the vast majority of doubters wrong by transforming Leeds into a side that don’t just crave promotion, but demand it.

That’s not to say that Bielsa has found life in England easy or that his tactical nous is too much for his counterparts; Frank Lampard got the better of him last season when it mattered, Leeds are yet to beat Nottingham Forest in four attempts under Bielsa, whilst the 64-year-old’s record against Garry Monk reads just a single point.

However, there is one club and one manager who picked up an unwanted record of becoming the first to lose every one of their first four meetings with Bielsa’s Leeds: Bristol City and Lee Johnson.

Luke Ayling struck against his former side on Saturday to give Leeds a vital win over the Robins, opening up a six-point gap to Johnson’s side in seventh, whilst also reopening daylight between themselves and Fulham.

For Johnson, it was a missed opportunity for his side against a Leeds team stalling in the automatic promotion race. Bielsa’s side piled on the pressure for 90 minutes, with Ayling’s goal within the first 20 enough to extend Johnson’s woeful record against his Argentinian counterpart.

As our above graphic shows, it is a maximum of 12 points for Bielsa in the four times he has gone up against Johnson and Bristol City in the Championship, with Leeds really cashing in on the points against the Robins.

A 2-0 home win back in November 2018 was backed up by a narrow win at Ashton Gate in March 2019, with Kemar Roofe, Pablo Hernandez and Patrick Bamford amongst the goals for Bielsa.

And, the 2019/20 season kicked off with Leeds winning 3-1 in the South West, with Hernandez and Bamford again on the scoresheet, leaving them with two goals apiece from the seven bagged against Johnson’s side. That humid August afternoon brought Bristol City’s only goal against a Bielsa side, with Andi Weimann striking.

However, on Saturday, Johnson watched on as his side drew another blank against Leeds, with Nahki Wells going closest, but failing to test Kiko Casilla from a narrow angle late in the second-half.

Saturday was also another occasion where Johnson’s side surrendered the bulk of possession to Leeds, who enjoyed a whopping 68.4% of the ball, which is way above their average of 61.1% in these four fixtures against the Robins, who only got close to an equal share of possession in last March’s 1-0 defeat (46.9%).

Maximum points out of Johnson helped Leeds to third in the table last season, whilst the six Bielsa has taken off the Robins in the current campaign separates the two in the table as things stand. However, Bielsa delivered a similar lesson to Lampard and Derby County in his first season in England; schooling the now-Chelsea boss in their first three meetings before his side capitulated when it mattered in the play-off second-leg.

There is, of course, still a chance that Leeds could meet Johnson and Bristol City later in the season in the play-offs, which would give the 38-year-old the same chance of redemption that Lampard got at Elland Road in May.

However, for Bielsa, he will hope by that point he’s truly mastered the Championship and given Leeds what they’ve craved for almost 16 years.