Bayern: An amazing reunion

STRANGE JOURNEY

Few people knew who Hansi Flick was when he was appointed interim coach of Bayern Munich in 2019. Before that, there was a huge gap - 14 years - considered unmentioned in Flick's coaching career, although in reality he was not idle.

Bayern Munich (right) has the advantage over rival Barcelona

The last time Flick held the head coach position before joining Bayern's coaching staff was in 2005: leading Hoffenheim when the team was still struggling in the fourth division of German football. In 2017, Flick returned to Hoffenheim as managing director, but his 5-year contract was terminated after only a few months. Flick returned to his hometown to help his wife... sell goods.

Bayern invited Flick to be an assistant to coach Niko Kovac at the beginning of the 2019-2020 season. Kovac quickly failed. Flick became an interim coach and was officially announced as head coach by Bayern shortly afterwards. The most notable detail in this combination is that in the past (1985-1990) Flick had worn Bayern's shirt during his playing career (he played in the 1987 C1 Cup final, wearing Bayern's shirt). Understanding Bayern's nature, and having a huge knowledge of football even though he had never been a head coach in the top football world, Flick led the "Bavarian gray tiger" as if he had been a veteran coach for a long time. Bayern immediately won the "treble" (winning the Bundesliga, Champions League, winning the national cup) - an achievement that had only appeared once before in the history of this giant club. Kicker magazine voted Flick the number 1 coach in Germany, and UEFA awarded him the number 1 coach in Europe award. The following titles continued to appear as a matter of course: European Super Cup, World Club Championship...

Suddenly, Flick and Bayern parted ways. Flick’s next move was even worse: he took charge of the Mannschaft, only to become the first coach in the history of the German national team… to be fired. After a brief period of silence, Flick made his debut in Spain, taking over as head coach of Barcelona this season.

B ARCA… KY RO B AYERN ?

In the 2019-2020 Champions League title, coach Flick led Bayern to a 8-2 win over Barcelona in the quarter-finals (a round that was only a single leg due to the pandemic). That was not the only humiliation Barcelona has suffered when looking back at recent clashes with Bayern.

The scores of the last 10 matches between the two teams in the Champions League (Barcelona first): 0-3, 0-2, 0-3, 0-3, 2-8, 2-3, 3-0, 0-3, 0-4, 1-1! Yes, Barcelona lost 8 matches, won only 1. In the defeats, Barcelona conceded at least 3 goals, with the ultimate disappointment being the 2-8 loss. It's like the two teams are on two different levels!

Now, Barcelona has a chance for revenge? Will Flick help Barcelona overcome the Bayern obsession? (In addition to Flick, Barcelona also has striker Robert Lewandowski who used to play for Bayern). Former player Lothar Matthaeus said that he is a close friend of Flick and said that in Flick's mind, there is absolutely no concept of "revenge". Matthaeus said that Flick is very focused and determined to bring victory to Barcelona in this clash.

Overall, Flick's first season in charge of Barcelona has started well. They lead La Liga by three points over defending champions Real Madrid. Only because of an early red card did Barcelona stumble and lose to Monaco in their opening Champions League match. Bayern also lost to Aston Villa in this match. Therefore, the loser of the Barcelona-Bayern match will be in real danger in the new format of the Champions League this season.

This is also Bayern's first season under the new coach, Vincent Kompany. The former player has had a good start. Bayern beat Dinamo Zagreb 9-2, becoming the team with the most goals ever scored in a Champions League match. The Barcelona - Bayern match tomorrow morning is both exciting and full of emotions, and really important in terms of technical skills. In the old format of the previous group stages, it was very difficult to have quality matches like this.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/flick-bayern-cuoc-tai-ngo-ky-thu-185241022213257274.htm