Five things you didn't know about Flick and Bayern
A lot has been said about Hansi Flick and his time at Bayern Munich since he was announced as the new manager of FC Barcelona. But here are five things that you might not know about the happenings in Bavaria in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, with names like Neuer, Musiala, Müller, Haaland and Mbappé among the protagonists.
Experience and youth
The youngest XI that Flick ever started with was one day short of an average of 26 years old. That was for a Champions League 2020/21 game away to Atlético Madrid. Centre back Arrey-Mbi and midfielder Musiala were just 17 and all of Nübel, Süle, Lucas Hernández and Sané were under 25. That game ended 1-1, with goals from João Félix and Müller.
Curiously, just four days later at the Allianz Arena, Flick fielded his oldest side, which averaged out at 28 years and 276 days. That was for a Bundesliga game with RB Leipzig. Coman, Pavard, Süle, Goretzka and Sané were the youngsters and Neuer, Boateng, Javi Martínez, Müller and Lewandowski were among the more veteran members of the side.
Neuer most used
The German goalkeeper played (and started) 81 games in the Hansi Flick era at Bayern. Thomas Müller and David Alaba were second in the list with 75 starts each, although it was the Austrian defender who played more actual minutes. Joshua Kimmich and the free-scoring Robert Lewandowski came next.
Goals against Schalke 04
In four meetings, it was Schalke who were on the receiving end of the most goals, a total of 18. TSG Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund didn't fare much better with 15 goals conceded, and Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer 04 Leverkusen let in 13.
In Europe, Red Bull Salzburg conceded nine goals to the Bavarian outfit in two Champions League matches in 2020/21.
Haaland, the nemesis
Now he's at Manchester City, but it was in his time at Borussia Dortmund that Flick was punished by the Norwegian striker. He scored four goals in four games against Bayern, while the Croatian Kramarić netted three times for TSG Hoffenheim, helping his team become the one that claimed the most goals against Flick.
Outside of the Bundesliga, Kylian Mbappé scored twice against Flick's Bayern, both in the same game of the Champions League quarter final.
Alaba and Kimmich the pass masters
The Austrian defender and German midfielder amassed the most passes in the Flick era at Bayern, the former with 6,044 in 78 games and Joshua Kimmich with 5,501 in 74. Jérôme Boateng completes the podium in this category.