HAnsi Flick was clearly uncomfortable. “Out of the emotionality,” reported the Bayern Munich coach, “a sentence slipped out that I’m not proud of and that I also feel sorry for.” What exactly he told his sports director Hasan Salihamidzic in the team bus a few weeks ago Throwing his head, Flick did not say.
“Now shut up!”, Flick is said to have yelled at his superiors according to “Bild” during that loud argument. The coach confirmed this failure indirectly, but emphasized again: “We shook hands and spoke out, so the whole thing is forgotten.” But Bayern did not come to rest in the crucial phase of the season – also because of Flick.
The exciting Champions League draw with “hammer opponents” (board member Oliver Kahn) Paris St. Germain in the quarter-finals, the grueling championship fight, the discussions about Flick as a possible national coach – and then the next upset: Hansi versus Hasan, coach versus sports director . Sequel follows? When asked about the reasons for the dispute, Flick was extremely thin-skinned. “The subject is over,” he said firmly, but vowed improvement.
Focus on Stuttgart
“We said for the future: The team and the staff deserve that calm returns, that we function and that everyone can do their job,” he emphasized. From now on they want to “steer things together in the right direction”. For example in the premier class. There Salihamidzic briskly gave the final on May 29 in Istanbul as a goal. Initially, the defending champion expected in the final remake of the previous year against PSG in the quarter-finals (7th and 13th April) but “tingy games”, as Thomas Müller said.
Flick was hardly looking forward to it. “My focus is now on the game against Stuttgart,” he said. In the south derby this Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky), he may have to do without Joshua Kimmich (flu-like infection), but captain Manuel Neuer will return. “It would be good for us if we go into the international break with a win,” said Salihamidzic. Because after that, the top game, which is not only “important” for Flick, awaits the leader of the standings at pursuers RB Leipzig. “They do it very well,” said Salihamidzic of the “very serious challenger”.
So that Bayern can fall back on world footballer Robert Lewandowski and defense chief David Alaba against RB, they deny both stars the World Cup qualifying trip to Great Britain. “If it remains that the returnees from England have to be quarantined, we will not be able to turn off Lewa,” said Salihamidzic. Lewandowski was scheduled to play with Poland against the Three Lions on March 31. Alaba would be challenged with Austria in Scotland on March 25th, but according to Salihamidzic it should not follow suit until “a few days later”.
The international matches now, said Flick, are “an enormous burden” for his already strained squad. Nevertheless, he is optimistic about the final spurt of the title: “From the pressing we are back where we want to see each other.” In addition, his team will not be infected by all the hustle and bustle. “In the team,” he emphasized, “it is currently not restless.” After all.
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