Hans Flick

German football manager and former player, head coach of Barcelona.

Hans-Dieter "Hansi" Flick (born 24 February 1965) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of La Liga club Barcelona. He is widely considered to be one of the best managers in the world.

Quick Facts

Real affiliation: FC Bayern Munich; Germany National Team
Primary role: Manager and Former Player

Lore & Background

A midfielder, Flick played for SV Sandhausen, Bayern Munich, and 1. FC Köln during his career as a player. At Bayern, he won four Bundesliga titles as well as one DFB-Pokal title. After playing at 1. FC Köln, Flick began his managerial career as player-manager of fourth-division club Victoria Bammental. In 2000, he became manager of fellow fourth-division side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, leading the team to promotion to the Regionalliga Süd before leaving in 2005. From 2006 to 2014, Flick was the assistant coach of the German national team under Joachim Löw, contributing to their victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He subsequently served as the sporting director of the German Football Association (DFB) from 2014 to 2017. Having rejoined Bayern Munich as an assistant coach in 2019, Flick was made interim manager following the departure of Niko Kovač in November 2019. He was later appointed permanently, and won the UEFA Champions League that season, completing the club's second continental treble. In 2021, Flick also led the side to a FIFA Club World Cup and another Bundesliga title. He, along with Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique, are the only managers to have ever achieved a sextuple with their team. He later replaced Löw in charge of the Germany national team in 2021, leading the team to qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, before being dismissed in 2023. In 2024, he joined Spanish club Barcelona, winning the domestic treble (Supercopa de España, Copa del Rey and La Liga) in his debut season, then winning La Liga and the Supercopa de España in his next.

Reader's Guide

During his playing career, he was a midfielder who played 104 matches for Bayern Munich and scored five goals between 1985 and 1990. At Bayern, he won four Bundesliga titles as well as one DFB-Pokal title, and played in the 1987 European Cup Final. He later played 44 matches for Köln before retiring from professional football in 1993 due to injuries. His last spell as a footballer was with Victoria Bammental from 1994 until 2000. Flick never played for the Germany national football team, but he made two appearances for the Germany under-18 team, in the group stage of the 1983 UEFA European Under-18 Championship on 15 and 17 May 1983, in a 1–0 win over Sweden and in a 3–1 win over Bulgaria, respectively.

Did You Know?

Flick played for 1. FC Köln, not FC Köln, and never played for TSV 1860 München.
He won the UEFA Champions League as Bayern Munich manager in 2020, completing a continental treble.