Hansi Flick

He wanted a German, and he brought a German! 

That was one of his greatest wishes. As soon as he entered the presidential campaign at the end of 2020, Joan Laporta, knowing that it would not go well in Spain, still boldly declared In Germany, some young coaches combine science with imagination, the best in the world. There are many of them, and their teams are playing great.

At that time, the Catalans were led by Ronald Koeman. 

And it didn’t work out for him. The media started speculating about who ‘that German’ could be. Logically, the first journalist candidate was Julian Nagelsmann, a guy in full focus at the time. Many names, from Joachim Lev through Thomas Tuchel to Marco Rose, will be listed later. 

However, in the meantime, Barcelona has made public the crater in its coffers and that years of recession are waiting for it, so the solution was found in its child – Xavi.

After the “romance” between Xavi and Barcelona ended, a very interesting opportunity arose. 

A combination of a German manager and Barcelona, something that happened two times before in history, and now Hansi Flick is the third German to be appointed as manager of this Spanish and European giant. Flick worked wonders with Bayern; he also won the triple crown in the 2019/20 season, but after that, he didn’t have the best results. 

He was also the manager of Germany’s national team, but he was sacked after poor results in the World Cup in Qatar. However, he arrives in Catalonia as a savior, and there is a lot of pressure on him to change the situation in the team despite the financial crisis inside the team.

Flick is known for his discipline and strictness, and it seems he already has in mind what the new Barcelona will look like in the next season.

At the top of the wish list is Joshua Kimmich, the legend of Bayern Munich, and there is also Jeremy Frimpong from Leverkusen, the duo of RB Leipzig, Dani Olmo and David Raum. In addition to reinforcements, work is already underway on the departure of several football players, and as reported by this news in Spain, Flick does not see even seven players in his team.

That list includes Sergio Roberto, Marcos Alonso (both contracts expire in the summer), Ferran Torres, Oriol Romeu, Inigo Martinez, Ignacio Pena, as well as Vitor Roque. 

It remains to be seen how all this will turn out in the coming period, but if anything, Flick seems to plan to bring Barca back among the strongest clubs in Europe. 

The priority is the domestic title, but the ultimate goal is certainly the Champions League.

The first time Barcelona decided to hire a German expert was in April 1975. Barca in ’75 brought the best that Germany had—Hennes Weisweiler, the creator of one of the greatest European teams of all time, Borussia Monchengladbach. Weisweiler stepped into Camp Nou as straight as an arrow, confident, full of confidence in himself and everything he knew. 

And how could he not when he had three German championship titles (ahead of Bayern) and two UEFA Cups? However, his period in Barcelona is mostly known about his conflict with Johan Cruyff.

For the second, and until Hansi Flick, the last German coach, Barcelona waited five years. It was the legendary Udo Lattek. He became famous in Bayern, winning three German championship titles. 1975, when Weisweiler left for Barcelona, ​​he took over Borussia from Monchengladbach. With Borussia, he won two more domestic championship titles, the UEFA Cup, and reached the final of the Champions Cup, where Liverpool will stop him from a new title. 

In short, once again, Barca took the best that Germany had to offer. 

Lattek had even bigger headaches with his superstars in Barcelona at the time: Allan Simonsen, Bernd Shuster, and Diego Maradona. These were three expensive aces and, according to the rules of the time, two places on the team. 

Lattek worked under big pressure for 18 months in Barcelona, winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1982.

Hansi Flick will certainly have a lot on his shoulders, and we will see how this German manages to change Barcelona’s history.

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