Bayern Munich legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has seen his share of battles between his club and FC Barcelona and knows the stakes are high for today’s match.
“We have now lost one game, the first game was great, 9:2 against Zagreb. But of course, we are under a bit of pressure after the 0:1 defeat against Aston Villa, so ideally we need to take something in Barcelona and we will try to do that. But they are also under pressure because they lost in Monaco,” saiid Rummenigge (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
One of the reasons that Rummenigge thinks that this version of FC Barcelona is such a threat is because of the influence of former Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick.
“First of all, I think that Barcelona is much more stable than in recent years. They are playing better football again, more successful and they are top of the table in Spain. That is thanks to Hansi. Hansi has obviously found and pressed the right buttons. And now they are playing attractive, good football. He is also relying heavily on young players with many exciting new players that he has brought in. And it is working,” said Rummenigge. “Hansi has a very empathetic gift and that has brought the team back this confidence and this success. Hansi is a good coach. If you are not a good coach, you will not win seven titles in a year and a half. He came to Bayern when we were fifth in the table. In the second half of the season we were on an incredible high and ended up just 13 or 16 points ahead of second and third place. He was exactly the right coach at the right time and I am very grateful to him for that. What more could you wish for than what we were able to experience together.”
Aside of Flick, Rummenigge is eager to see two, top-class strikers go at it in Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and FC Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski.
“Both are very successful and yet they are very different. Robert joined us on a free transfer in 2014. That was a coup that helped us unbelievably because it brought a goal-scoring machine into our team that was second to none. Robert was a super important player on the pitch and a good guy off it. I have rarely experienced players with whom you could have such authentic, honest and high-quality discussions. He was also an important advisor to me in many situations when things got tough,” said Rummenigge. “We are happy that we have Harry Kane at FC Bayern. It’s not by chance that you score 36 goals in a season that ultimately was not successful from FC Bayern’s point of view. Goalscorers live from their goals, otherwise they are not happy.”
Could Bayern Munich actually lose to FC Barcelona? What happens if we do? How do the two teams stack up? We discuss those questions and more in the newest episode of our podcast! Listen to it below or on Spotify.
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