Former Bayern Munich Chairman praises Barcelona duo ahead of UCL clash | OneFootball

Hansi Flick is set to have his first true test as the head coach of FC Barcelona right after the end of this international break. The German tactician will be seeing his team face off against two of the best teams in Europe, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, with a break of only 72 hours in between.

But with the form that he has shown with this Barcelona team up to now, there is not really much concern ahead of this grueling week. But there is no doubt that the tie against the Bavarians will be special for Flick as it is the only club where he has been the head coach of the first team before his stint at Barcelona.

His time at Bayern Munich lasted only about 20 months, but these months were marked with almost constant success for the Bavarian team. Thus, the German giants remember Flick’s time at the club with some affection, and this was quite clear from the comments made by the former Chairman and the current member of the supervisory board at Bayern Munich, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Rummenigge was an advisor to the management of the German football association when Flick was relieved of his duties as the manager of the German national team.

As SPORT has reported, talking about this dismissal in an interview with Kicker, the former Germany legend believed this was an unfair decision, and went on to praise the now-Barcelona manager:

“He [Flick] was a victim of the then completely unstable German Football Federation… You don’t win seven titles in a year and a half if you’re not a good coach.”

“When he was with us, he would come to my office three times a week to have a coffee and talk about everything. He needs people he can trust, and, with all due respect, he didn’t have those in the Federation.”

Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

Another person now associated with FC Barcelona that Rummenigge praised in this interview was Lewandowski, as the German highlighted one personal aspect of the Pole that he valued quite highly:

“There are some signings that were essential for the club. One of them was the signing of Robert Lewandowski. He’s a goal-scoring machine and a really good guy. I’ve never seen a player more honest than him.”

“I could talk to him about anything. He always gave me an honest answer, not a rehearsed response or one that favored him… It’s important to understand that this is not something common because my job was to promote the well-being of the club and not just his.”

“Robert was an incredibly important advisor for me. You can talk about football with him at an immensely high level, and he’s also extremely intelligent.”

Lewandowski is more generally known mainly for prowess on the pitch, and these revelations from Rummenigge provide an idea of how the Pole is as a person.

He has also been quite influential at Barcelona, , and one can hope that he also gives the same honest opinion to decision-makers at Barcelona as he used to do with Bayern Munich.