Hansi Flick celebrates 60 years of football

A new era for Hansi Flick. The German coach is celebrating his sixtieth birthday at a sweet moment with FC Barcelona. Since his arrival, he has managed to leave his mark on the team's play. He combines the physical potential of German football with an associative and attacking style. He has returned the club to its essence, to the style that Cruyff developed in the Catalan club. He will have the chance to blow out the candles this Tuesday, against Atlético de Madrid, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.

After a career as a footballer in his country, enjoying the ball from inside the green rectangle for 18 years, the Heidelberg-born player began his time in the dugout in 1995. He stopped directing SV Sandhausen, Bayern Munich, Cologne and Bammental from the pivot, to move to the wing. He started his career where he left off, at Bayern Munich (1996-2000), before moving to Hoffenheim (2000-2005). He then became Giovanni Trapattoni's assistant at RB Salzburg in the 2006/2007 season.

He only stayed at the Austrian club between July and August, when he received an offer to do the same job with the German national team, alongside Joachim Löw. He did so for 8 years. A month after participating in the feat of making the 'Mannschaft' world champion, he became the national sporting director. He remained in that position for 3 years, until January 2017. Afterwards, he took 6 months off, until he assumed similar responsibilities, again, at Hoffenheim. In July 2019, Bayern signed him as assistant coach to Niko Kovac. However, the prefix lasted only 4 months, as he became the main one after the dismissal of his superior.

The creation of his first steamroller: Bayern Munich

In November 2019, he accepted the position of coach of the Bavarian team, almost 14 years after the last time he was the highest authority in a dugout. He did not have much time to decide if he wanted to take responsibility, as Kovac was dismissed on November 3, 2019, less than 24 hours after the biggest defeat suffered in the Bundesliga in 10 years, against Eintracht Frankfurt (5-1). He gave the team a facelift and got the machine running.

His first match in the position was on November 6, at home, against Olympiacos (2-0). After the first victory, the second, third and fourth followed: Borussia Dortmund (4-0), Fortuna Düsseldorf (0-4) and Red Star (0-6). The club lost the next two matches, against Bayer Leverkusen (1-2) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (2-1). The last defeat was on December 7, 2019. It is an important date, as the Bavarian team did not lose a single match in a campaign marred by Covid-19. Bayern won all the titles: Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League.

That same season, which served to name Hansi Flick the best coach in the world, saw one of the greatest traumas for Barcelona. As a result of the global pandemic, confinement forced the world to stop, including football. This meant that the season ended in August and the Champions League qualifiers were held in Lisbon, as a neutral venue, during the aforementioned month. In the quarter-finals, the Munich team faced FC Barcelona and crushed it (2-8), plunging it into one of the biggest crises in its history.

The German coach's project at Germany's top club lasted one more campaign, in which he completed the sextet with the European and national Super Cups, as well as the Club World Cup. The cycle was closed with a Bundesliga win with 13 points over second-placed Leipzig. In April, Flick announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season. And so he did. However, it was not to rest, as in August he was presented as the new coach of the 'Mannschaft'. He was in office for 2 years, but it coincided with the end of a cycle that did not allow him to succeed: eliminated in the round of 16 of the 2021 Euro Cup against England and disqualified in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup. He was dismissed in September 2023, after losing resoundingly to Japan (1-3).

Flick's arrival at Barça

After his adventure as German coach went wrong, Hansi took almost a year off. He received numerous offers, such as those from Bayern and Chelsea. However, he was clear that if he returned to coach, it would be at FC Barcelona. In the city of Barcelona, ​​tempers were high. The team, led by Xavi Hernández, was in a season-long recess. The situation was such that the man from Egar announced on January 27 that he would leave the club at the end of the season. The Board of Directors took advantage of these remaining months of the season to look for a replacement and sounded out Flick.

The response was positive. The coach was so happy that he began to work on his own: he improved his Spanish, met with Pep Guardiola and Domènec Torrent to get to know the Catalan club and everything that surrounds it better, as well as finding out about the great talents at La Masia. All this came to a halt at the end of April, when Xavi met with the sports committee at Laporta's house and the coach's continuity was agreed, after he had taken a step back. This annoyed Pini Zahavi, Flick and Lewandowski's agent, as well as a personal friend of the Barça president, as well as disillusioning the German.

Other clubs intensified their efforts to sign the German coach. However, a call from Barcelona warned Hansi that the situation with Hernández was not stable and asked him to be patient. So it was that, just over a month after the so-called 'sushi pact' for the continuity of the Barça legend, Flick was named Barça coach for the 24/25 campaign. It took place on May 29, 3 days after the last game of the season, against Sevilla at the Sánchez Pizjuán (1-2).

The Heidelberg native is currently celebrating his 60th birthday ahead of the first leg of the Copa del Rey tie against Atlético de Madrid. He has been in charge for 7 months now, during which time he has managed to bring good football and excitement back to the city of Barcelona. Despite a bad period between November and December, the team lifted the Spanish Super Cup at the start of the year and is unbeaten in 2025, with 11 wins and 2 draws in 13 matches in all competitions. This FC Barcelona promises many joys. Happy birthday, Hansi.