ShareMADRID: Barcelona have appointed former Germany and Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick as head coach on a two-year contract, the La Liga club said on Wednesday. Flick, who has not managed a club since being sacked by Germany in September 2023, will be tasked with reviving Barcelona’s fortunes after the Catalan side failed to win any trophies this season under Xavi Hernandez, who was dismissed on Friday. In a statement, the club said it had “chosen a man well known for his teams’ high pressing, intense and daring style of play which has brought him great success at club level and international level, winning pretty much all there is to win in the world of football”.
Flick said it was an honor and a dream to be the Barcelona coach. “I’m really looking forward to start working for this amazing club. Since I have arrived I have seen that everyone loves this club and does everything they can for its success,” he told Barca TV.
“In the first team there is a good mix of experienced players and talented young players. I think we have to work to be able to improve... I won a few titles with Bayern Munich and I’d like to continue this path at Barcelona.” Barcelona highlighted the 59-year-old’s success during the 2019-20 season at the helm of Bayern, with whom he won six trophies - the Bundesliga, the German Cup, the Champions League, the German Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
Xavi was sacked last week after a trophy-less season in which Barca finished 10 points behind champions Real Madrid, lost the Spanish Super Cup final to their arch-rivals and were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris St Germain in the last eight. The German filling Xavi’s shoes faces a tough challenge ahead with fixing Barca’s on-field struggles amid turmoil off the pitch, including deepening financial problems and a refereeing scandal that could drag on for years.
Earlier, Bayern Munich have appointed Vincent Kompany as their new manager on a deal until June 2027 after the Belgian parted ways with Burnley following their relegation from the Premier League, the two clubs announced on Wednesday.
“We understand the allure and prestige of a club like Bayern Munich and respect Vincent’s ambition to explore new opportunities,” Burnley said in a statement. Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said: “We all at the club agree that Vincent Kompany is the right coach for FC Bayern and are very much looking forward to working with him.”
Bayern, Bundesliga champions in the previous 11 seasons, finished third behind Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart. They were also unable to win domestic or European silverware for the first time in more than a decade, leading to the departure of coach Thomas Tuchel, which was announced in February.
The arrival of Kompany ends a months-long search for the successor of Tuchel, with several potential candidates deciding to remain in their current jobs. Bayern explored several candidates for the vacant managerial role including Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso, former coach Julian Nagelsmann and Austrian Ralf Rangnick prior to appointing Kompany. “I look forward to this challenge at Bayern,” Kompany said. “It is an honor to work for this club. Bayern are an institution in international football.
“As a coach you have to just like your personality. I love having possession, being creative, and we also have to be aggressive and courageous on the pitch.” In his short managerial career, Kompany, who played 360 matches in all competitions for Manchester City and won four Premier League titles, has garnered a reputation for playing free-flowing and possession-based football.
He began his coaching career at Belgian club Anderlecht and spent two seasons there before joining Burnley in 2022, where his approach worked a treat in the second-tier Championship as the Lancashire club secured promotion with seven games to spare.
However, Burnley’s insistence on sticking to that style against teams of a higher calibre in the Premier League meant they found it hard going in the top-flight and were relegated after finishing 19th with 24 points and just five wins. Bayern will hope that Kompany’s attacking philosophy can be more effectively employed with the quality of players in the Bavarian club’s squad, and his experience of playing in the Bundesliga for two years with Hamburger SV is an added bonus. — AFP
