Ottmar Hitzfeld, Jupp Heynckes, Pep Guardiola or Hansi Flick? We asked you who was the best Bayern coach since 2000. And this is what the result looks like…
PLACE 10 | Carlo Ancelotti | July 2016 to September 2017 | 0.2 percent
Guardiola failed three times in a row in the Champions League semifinals, so the so-called Henkelpott expert Ancelotti (three title wins) was brought in for the big coup.
But the mission did not succeed, Ancelotti’s Bayern failed in the quarter-finals at his former club Real. After all, it was enough for the championship. In his second season, Ancelotti was sacked after a 3-0 loss to PSG in the Champions League group stage.
PLACE 9 | Felix Magath | July 2004 to January 2007 | 0.6 percent
The former midfielder won two championships and cups in a row for the first time in the club’s history.
As time went on, however, friction within the club increased. According to Magath, later it was no longer about sporting success, but business interests in the club. He described his end in Munich as “not a broken leg”.
PLACE 8 | Niko Kovac | July 2018 to November 2019 | 0.7 percent
In the first season he led Bayern to the double, but his style and style of play were not well received by the leading players.
In a way, he blamed the team, legendary his statement: “You can’t try to drive 200 km/h on the motorway if you can only do 100. You have to adapt what you have.” After a 1:5 against Frankfurt he had to go.
PLACE 7 | Julian Nagelsmann | July 2021 to present | 1.2 percent
The highly acclaimed former Leipzig coach joined Bayern last summer for a record €25m fee and is looking solid so far.
Bayern are on course in the championship and Champions League, but in the cup they suffered an embarrassing 5-0 defeat by M’Gladbach. With 2.36 points per game, he is currently the fourth best Bayern coach of all time (as of December 2022).
PLACE 6 | Juergen Klinsmann | July 2008 to April 2009 | 2.1 percent
Bayern boss Rummenigge later described his appointment as the “biggest mistake” in his almost 30 years in charge of FCB.
Klinsmann was preferred to Hoeneß favorite Jürgen Klopp (then Mainz) at Rummenigge’s insistence. In the end, the philosophy of both sides didn’t fit, said Rummenigge, but of course also meant the bare numbers.
PLACE 5 | Ottmar Hitzfeld July 1998 to June 2004 and February 2007 to June 2008 | 7.9 percent
After his successful time until 2004, he was joined by two players from a new era in Luca Toni and Franck Ribery in his second term.
As a result, he got the double with his congenial assistant trainer Michael Henke. But that finally came to an end at FCB: Hitzfeld’s emotional farewell will be remembered forever.
PLACE 4 | Louis van Gaal | July 2009 to April 2011 | 9.2 percent
Van Gaal took over and basically ushered in the era that is still ongoing at the Munich team. Arguably his most important decision was to push for Robben to sign.
He came from Real Madrid and, along with Franck Ribery, was the most important part of the new 4-2-3-1 system with lots of ball possession. In addition, the “tulip general” brought a few youngsters to the pros, including Thomas Müller.
PLACE 3 | Hansi Flick | November 2019 to June 2021 | 12.7 percent
Kovac’s successor immediately had the team go 200 km/h (or even faster) and took the historic sextuple. Even during the successes, the dissonances with sports director Hasan Salihamidzic became increasingly clear. In his opinion, Flick had too little say in transfers and general squad planning. In 2021 he finally asked for the early termination of his contract, which ran until 2023.
PLACE 2 | Pep Guardiola | July 2013 to June 2016 | 14.0 percent
The Catalans, who were widely regarded as the best coaches in the world at the time, perfected the current Munich system once again and relied on respectable attacking football.
The result was three championships in a row, plus two cup wins. In the Champions League, however, it was always the semi-finals. Ultimately, Guardiola was not persuaded to stay and moved on to Man City in 2016.
PLACE 1 | Jupp Heynckes | 2009, 2011 to 2013 and 2017 to 2018 | 51.0 percent |
After coming back from retirement, he basically continued van Gaal’s idea, but brought more flexibility into play. The result was three frustrating second places in 2012. Of course, the low point was the final at home – the penalty shoot-out defeat in Munich’s CL final against Chelsea. However, instead of breaking down, Heynckes won the treble a year later.
