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The German Boss in Barcelona, Is it a Right Move?

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Barcelona is set to hire a German boss to lead the team next season, which raises questions about whether it is the right decision.

Barcelona has gone through a disappointing season as a reigning La Liga champion. They have failed to live up to the expectations of their fans and have been inferior to their archrival, Real Madrid, both in the standings and in El Clasico. What’s worse, the internal conflict seems to have come to the surface, especially between the boss, Xavi Hernandez, and the sporting director, Deco, plus the president of the Catalan giant, Joan Laporta.

After months of uncertainty, including two U-turn decisions, management has finally moved on from the former Catalan midfielder. They have reportedly appointed a German boss, Hans Flick, to be at the helm of Marc Ter-Stegen and Co.

Many fans may be delighted to learn that a proven Champions League winner has agreed to take over as manager. Flick was the gaffer when Bayern Munich won a treble in the 2019–20 season, plus the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in the same year.

However, one should bear in mind that the 2019–20 season was an unusual one. The season was disrupted by the pandemic, resulting in the delay of several top league completions. Two European major leagues, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie, were even halted in the middle of the season. Bundesliga was the only major league that restarted the league the earliest, meaning that they completed first as well in August, whereas at the same time, other leagues such as La Liga, Premier League, and Italian Serie A had just resumed their competition. It happened to take place in the same month as UCL continued with a single-leg match in the knockout stages.

Such circumstances gave a significant advantage to the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 teams to maximise their chances in the UCL. The semi-finalists in that season came from both Germany and France, including Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, PSG, and Lyon. Bayern was the only experienced team in the Champions League, so they undoubtedly won the title in the end.

Another piece of evidence to show how Hans Flick is probably not as incredible as expected was his team’s campaign in the 2020–21 season and his surprisingly woeful spell with the Germany national team. Bayern might still have been the best in domestic competition in 2021, but their continental campaign ended in the round of eight after losing to Mauro Pocchettino’s PSG. Moreover, Die Mannschaft under Flick failed terribly in the 2022 FIFA World Cup by collecting only four points, as well as suffering a humiliating defeat versus Japan at the opener.

Regarding his move to Barcelona, let us hope he can turn things around, as the Catalan side had fairly negative records under German gaffers before. There were two of them in the past. They were both high-profile ones, and Blaugrana put their fate on their shoulders to bring back their glory days, only to see another disappointment in return. Here are those two German bosses in Barcelona.

Hennes Weisweiler

Hennes Weisweiler was the first German coach signed by Barcelona in the summer 1975 as Rinus Michels’ successor. He was already known as the leading figure in Borussia M'Gladbach's glorious years in the 1970s. He had just won the Bundesliga and UEFA Cup in the 1974–75 season. It was his third and first title, respectively. Weisweiler was confident that he could deliver silverware for the Catalan side, especially with two Dutch stars from the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, in the team.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out as expected. He was dismissed after losing 1-0 to Liverpool in the UEFA Cup semifinals. They only finished second in La Liga, despite winning in El Clasico. Their campaign in the Spanish Cup was not satisfactory either. Consequently, Blaugrana went trophyless again.

His issue with the team’s star, Johan Cruyff, only made his stint even worse. The German boss was so unfortunate during his stay there since Cruyff took an instant dislike to him, probably due to the Dutch’s inability to have the freedom he had under his previous manager. 

Udo Lattek

The second German boss in command of the Catalan giant was Udo Lattek. Unlike his predecessor, he had a slightly better spell there. Lattek had won a number of silverwares, such as five Bundesliga titles (three for Bayern and two for Gladbach), one DFB Pokal, one European Cup with Bayern in 1974, and one UEFA Cup with Gladbach in 1979.

Despite his trophyless stint at Dortmund from 1979 to 1981, Barcelona was still interested in signing him. The former striker had a fine campaign in his first season. Despite only finishing second in La Liga below Real Sociedad, Lattek managed to guide Carlos Rexach and Co. to clinch the UEFA Winners Cup in 1982 after thumping Belgian side Standard Liege 2-1 in the final, which happened to be held in Camp Nou. His team was also sitting above Real Madrid in the final standings.

Nevertheless, in his second season, Lattek was having a hard time optimising the potential of their new signing, Diego Maradona. Despite the win in El Clasico, Barcelona was beaten 3-1 in the UEFA Super Cup against Aston Villa on aggregate. He was soon replaced by Cesar Luis Menotti, Maradona’s former coach on the national team.


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