Hansi Flick made the heart of the great Bayern champion beat

296 days ago, on November 2, 2019, the Bayern it was on the floor. He was overwhelmed by the Eintracht Frankfurt, who endorsed a very tough 5-1 to the then five-time champion Europe. That suit in capital letters was a before and after for a team that, under the orders of Niko Kovac, he did not reflect on the grass what he was wearing in his boots. The always consistent dome of the history of the Bundesliga it didn't take long to react. He immediately dismissed the Croatian coach and handed over the reins of the squad to an interim who, about ten months later, is already eternal in the Bavarian capital: Hansi Flick.

Many will wonder how it is possible that Kovac's second has squeezed a team that reached seventh position in the Bundesliga in the autumn (they ended up winning it, like the Pokal). How was he able to unite a dressing room with so many sacred cows that, at the time, they did not hesitate to sentence Kovac before the board to demand a change of course in the club? From within the entity they point to the soul. Nobody doubts the technical ability of Flick. Nor from his experience on the bench, where he became the brain of Joachim Löw in the conquest of the fourth World Cup for the Mannschaft. But what truly defines you is your heart.

Bayern have magic in their boots. He always had it. Robert Lewandowski it's a cannon. Manuel Neuer seems to wear magnets on his gloves and Joshua Kimmich embodies that warrior gene that, by history, defined the whole of Allianz Arena. Of course, he needed a catalyst that was capable of channeling all that potential that was hidden under the rojiblanca clothing. And right there Flick appears. A leisurely person. Cordial, but always direct and open. Just like they love them in Munich. He took over the team and what happened next was memorable: 34 wins and just two losses. 108 goals for and 26 against. And that triplet that will remain for eternity.

Flick understood from the beginning that the key was to unite the dressing room. There is an image that perfectly defines what the Bayern stars feel about him: Javi martinez, destroyed in October 2019 for not having the desired role in a team that was in full swing of the cycle, cried on the bench at the Allianz Arena. Beside him, embracing the champion of the Spanish world and comforting him: Kovac's then assistant, Hansi Flick. He always knew how to touch a chord with his pupils. And they did not hesitate to give it back to him from the moment he became head coach of the Munich. It was love at first sight.

Another example is Thomas muller. The world champion with the German team in 2014 did not count for Kovac and, as he came to admit months later, he was looking for a new destination in the face of the situation he was suffering in the club of his life. It was to arrive Flick and live a renaissance that has made him a pillar of the second team in history that manages to raise its second treble after the FC Barcelona (2009 and 2015). Flick handed him stripes. And Müller responded, among other records, by beating the Bundesliga assists record with 21 goal passes. Müller's message for Kovac after raising the apricot in Lisbon rang up in Monaco: “I think I have shown that my site is not yet in the recyclable glass container,” he stressed.

Flick relaunched them all. Boateng He was once again that reliable center-back who led the Mannschaft in 2014. Lewandowski took the definitive step towards the stardom to which he is called. And Neuer went back to being the Neuer of always. It looks like a fairy tale. And it is. Especially considering that Flick wrote it at a time when the club was immersed in a renewal that reached all its levels. On the green, Kimmich, Goretzka and Davies were intended to replace the Schweinsteiger, Robben and Ribéry From the past. On the noble floor, Oliver kahn joined the Bavarian board of directors to, in the future, inherit the position of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in the control room of the club. Like Hasan Salihamidzic, former roadrunner on the pitch, where Uli Hoeness perceived that talent with which he formed today's Bayern decades ago.

No one could have known that success would come so soon. Bayern have always been known in the world of football for their seriousness and serenity when it comes to competing. The eleven he lined up in the Lisbon final against PSG cost around half of the 222 million euros that the Qatari wallet paid to take over Neymar's services. Money doesn't always win. The pride, the soul and the heart win. That heart that Flick knew how to revive after that dark afternoon in Frankfurt and that made it beat ten months later in Lisbon. The heart of Bayern. Of the Bayern of always.