FLICK’S MUNICH MIRACLE
Kimmich hails coach Hansi for turning Bayern from early-season strugglers to all-conquering European invincibles
JOSHUA KIMMICH says Bayern Munich went into their Champions League Final showdown with Paris Saint German feeling invincible.
Victory for the German giants in Lisbon on Sunday night means they have ended Real Madrid’s six-year reign as the No.1 club in the UEFA rankings.
Unsurprisingly, they have already been installed as favourites to win the trophy again next season. But it was a different story last November when head coach Niko Kovac was sacked after a 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bayern were in fourth place in the Bundesliga after 10 games and four points behind leaders Borussia Monchengladbach.
Assistant Hansi Flick was promoted to the top job. And, starting with the 3-1 home win over Tottenham on December 11, Bayern went unbeaten in 30 games to complete only the second treble in their history.
Flick’s last masterstroke of the campaign was to recall Kingsley Coman for the final, a decision which paid off handsomely when the former PSG youth team player scored the winner.
And Bayern star Kimmich has no doubt that the decision to promote Flick was the key to turning around their season.
“Flick gave us lots of confidence at the start,” said Kimmich, who provided the assist for Coman’s crucial header.
“We had a bit of a feeling of invincibility. We have really deserved to win this competition.
“It is indescribable, a feeling like that, to be on the pitch with that group. It is like with brothers, even if someone makes an error, someone arrives to fix it.” Flick, who was Germany No.2 for eight years until the 2014 World Cup triumph, was initially given the Bayern job until the end of the season. But such was his immediate impact he was handed a deal until 2023 in April.
The former Bayern midfielder, 55, said: “Back in November you could read in the press that no one should’ve been afraid of Bayern, that they shouldn’t have respected Bayern, because it was such a bad side. So I think we really have produced sensational progress since then.
“I think we deserved the win in the final, based on what the team have produced over the last 10 months, particularly all season long in the Champions League. It’s been incredible.
“We really are proud of the whole staff. The way that we play football, the way that we go out there as a team, we really make life difficult for the opposition.”
Match-winner Coman was yesterday compared to Thierry Henry by former England boss Fabio Capello after both players failed at Juventus before finding stardom. The France star joined the Serie A champions on a free transfer from PSG in 2014, but only made 22 appearances before being loaned out to Bayern.
Capello said: “Coman is considered good enough to start in a Champions League Final for Bayern Munich.
“Evidently, Juventus keep repeating the same mistakes. Henry arrived so young at Juve, they let him go and then he flourished at Arsenal. Coman is on a similar path in Munich.
“When you see quality, you must have the patience to wait.
“You can not expect a young player to immediately make the difference at the highest level.”
PHIL FODEN will celebrate his first senior England call-up today after doing precisely what Gareth Southgate asked – proving it on the pitch.
Back in June when Euro 2020 should have started, the England manager hinted that the Three Lions might actually be stronger for the delay, with youngsters such as Foden (above) emerging through the ranks.
But only if those kids continue to develop in the Premier League.
England last played an international 11 months ago, a 4-0 win in Kosovo with a place in the European Championship finals already assured.
Then the countdown to a largely home-based tournament was ticking much louder and Southgate (right, below) was looking at his up-andcoming talents with an eye to this summer.
Nick Pope, Declan Rice and Callum Hudson-odoi all started.
Chelsea pair Fikayo Timori and Mason Mount came off the bench with Mount scoring.
Foden, though, has been kept under wraps in junior England sides.
Southgate has used his lack of game time in the stellar Manchester City line-up as the reason to delay his introduction to the senior ranks.
It is now 292 days until England’s first game next summer in the Euros against Croatia.
And the sanitised environment of behindclosed-doors matches against Iceland and Denmark next month could be the perfect nursery ground for such a long-awaited talent.
Because having forced his way into the City line-up for similar spectator-free games – a dozen appearances during lockdown at the end of the season – Foden has shown he can thrive in that environment.
The 20-year-old started – and starred – in City’s most impressive winning performances of Project Restart against Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Mason Greenwood (below, top) is another pressing for a place.
His five goals since the restart equalled the amount he scored in all the rest of the season.
But the Manchester United striker may have to wait until October.
The intention is for the England squad to consist of around 25 players to allow for injuries.
And Southgate would prefer to rely on players already in the bubble of St George’s Park rather than suddenly be forced to call up players from their final days of holiday or disrupt their pre-season before the start of the new Premier League campaign on September 12.
However, with an unprecedented triple header to follow, the October get-together is likely to be a larger affair.
Up to 30 players can expect to be rotated through the fixtures against Wales, Belgium and Denmark at Wembley.
Of course, the younger players will need experienced ones to help nurture them through.
And with Jordan Henderson likely to miss out through injury, Southgate may lean on Foden’s City team-mate Kyle Walker to bolster the leadership group within the squad.
The 30-year-old also impressed during the run-in and could end a 15-month drought since his last international cap.