Coach duel between Tuchel and Flick: more being than appearance

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Thomas Tuchel or Hansi Flick: One of the two can call himself Champions League winner after this evening

A portrait of Hansi Flick recently appeared in the New York Times. The newspaper's reporter promoted his text on Twitter. He asked many people what was the secret of Flick's success, he wrote there, and the answer was always: Flick is "not an asshole".

Flick, 55, may have been in professional football for a long time, but he has little experience as a head coach. When he replaced Niko Kovac at Bayern Munich last November, he was seen as a temporary solution. In the evening (9 p.m.; TV and stream: ZDF, Sky, DAZN; live ticker SPIEGEL.de) he can win the Champions League.

He would be the sixth German coach after Udo Lattek, Dettmar Cramer, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Jupp Heynckes and Jürgen Klopp, who won the most important European Cup. Opponent is Paris Saint-Germain, also this club with a German coach, Thomas Tuchel, 46.

When it got difficult, Löw let Flick take over

As successful as both coaches are this season, they are often perceived as differently. On the one hand the nice Mr. Flick, who reaches the players with his empathy. On the other, the tactically ingenious, but considered difficult Tuchel.

It is quite possible that there is always something to it. But to reduce both trainers to one thing on a human level, the other on a professional level, does both of them an injustice. And maybe they are even less contradicting than what is portrayed.

It is no coincidence that Flick emphasizes above all his knack for players. In the article in the "New York Times", Per Mertesacker, who became world champion under assistant coach Flick in 2014, describes how he had been told before the quarter-finals that he had to go to the bench. National coach Joachim Löw informed him of the decision, but Mertesacker reacted with incomprehension. Then Flick's moment came. It was up to him to influence the player. With success. He just always found the right words, it says in the text.

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Flick and national coach Löw (r): The photo is from 2013

In addition, Flick has not had a successful career as head coach, on the contrary. At the beginning of the millennium, he failed to lead Hoffenheim into the second division. He later became Löw's assistant at the DFB, then sports director in the association and again at Hoffenheim. Up until this season, Flick had never been head coach in the Bundesliga.

But that doesn't mean he's not a professional.

Tactically, Bayern are playing the much more sophisticated football in possession than in the previous season. The pressing has improved massively under Flick. The team scores more goals and concedes less. Flick didn't necessarily give her anything new. But he activated what had distinguished the team in previous, more successful years.

Even at the DFB, Flick was considered someone who dealt deeply with football. As sports director, he helped to develop a concept that was supposed to standardize the style of the DFB teams. Anyone who watches Flick in a video from 2015 setting out the guidelines will experience someone who is safest when he can talk about the technical aspects.

Lack of attention to detail is not something one would blame Tuchel for.

Tuchel as Dortmund coach

When he hired in Dortmund in 2015, some players were amazed at the meticulousness with which Tuchel went to work. Suddenly every detail counted. For example in which foot you passed the ball to the teammate.

In fact, what BVB brought to the field in Tuchel's early days was outstanding from a tactical point of view. The first eleven games were won. During the entire season, Dortmund scored four goals or more twelve times. The attack repertoire seemed so broad that opponents did not know how to defend against BVB. If you closed the middle, the Borussia came over the outside. If you attacked earlier, chip balls flew over the defensive chain.

BVB thanked them for their successful work in sport. And only for them

Tuchel was runner-up in his first season, he scored 78 points, the best result of a runner-up in the Bundesliga history to this day. The following season there were only 64 left, which is why the team won the trophy.

Then Tuchel had to go. BVB thanked the trainer "for the successful sporting work". And only for them.

Technically, Tuchel is above all doubt, but human? This is how you read and heard from journalists close to BVB at the time.

Whether that is true remains to be seen. In any case, it was an interpretation of the separation that was extremely pleasant for BVB, which was difficult to understand from a sporting point of view. By then, at the latest, Tuchel certainly had the image of the difficult guy.

Anyone who recently looked at the Paris team under Tuchel should be far from this impression. The coach has succeeded in balancing a team where only some defenders can keep up with the genius of their striker colleagues so that they score goals and defend them successfully.

This is not just for tactical reasons.

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Tuchel and defense chief Thiago Silva celebrate the semi-finals

After the semi-final victory over Leipzig, defense chief Thiago Silva said the current team was the strongest he had seen in Paris, not only on the pitch, but also off. Thilo Kehrer emphasized that the team had grown into one unit. And Tuchel himself spoke less about tactical details and more about the players' thirst for victory.

It all sounded a bit like FC Bayern.

Anyone who attributes the apparently good climate in Munich to Flick should also do the same at Tuchel this season. Anyone who praises the Parisian style of play under Tuchel should also recognize how strong Bayern have been performing for months.

One of the two coaches can call himself Champions League winner after this evening. It's the biggest title you can win at European club level. Whether that will change anything in terms of image is another question.