New coach - straight to the championship

Not many Bundesliga coaches have managed to win the league title in their first season. Vincent Kompany could become number nine.

Georg Knöpfle - 1. FC Köln (1963/64 season): The Black Forest native, himself an active inside striker in the 1920s and 1930s (SpVgg Fürth and FSV Frankfurt), took over the coaching job at 1. FC Köln from Zlatko "Tschik" Cajkovski, who won the first championship in the then Oberliga with the "Geißböcken" in 1962.

And Knöpfle continued the winning streak, winning the first title with legends like Wolfgang Overath and Wolfgang Weber right after the Bundesliga's introduction, ahead of Meidericher SV. Knöpfle, nicknamed " Knöpfle " because of his small stature, remained coach until mid-1966. For the 1966/1967 season, Knöpfle was appointed technical director of the FC; today, the position would probably be called manager.

Branko Zebec - FC Bayern Munich (1968/69 season): Branko Zebec, only 40 years old at the time, became German champion in his first season with the young team around Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller and also crowned the season with the cup victory - the first "double" in Bundesliga history.

The Yugoslavian was considered a very uncompromising, almost dictatorial coach. He frequently controlled the players with calls at night and made them train very hard. The shrewd tactician was initially successful, but the following season, they "only" finished second. The Bayern players also found it difficult to cope with the rude tone and strict training methods – Zebec did not extend his expiring contract.

Ernst Happel - Hamburger SV (1981/82 season): Branco Zebec had built a strong team in the Hanseatic city, and Happel transformed them into one of the best teams in Bundesliga history. Hamburg played the pressing style pioneered by Happel, covered space (Happel: "If you play man-to-man marking, you'll have eleven donkeys on the pitch" ) with a perfectly functioning offside trap, and impressed with their attacking football.

In Happel's first year as coach, HSV stormed through the Bundesliga, scoring an incredible 95 goals and remaining unbeaten in 36 matches between January 1982 and January 1983. The 1982 championship was followed by a title defense twelve months later. Happel was a chain smoker, brandy drinker, gambler, tactician, and a grumpy man who maintained a good, if not friendly, relationship with his players. He was considered one of the best coaches in the world at the time. He stayed with the club until 1987, with whom he also won the European Cup (1983).

Franz Beckenbauer - FC Bayern Munich (1993/94 season): Franz Beckenbauer was essentially everything at FC Bayern: player, official, and (championship-winning) coach. The "Kaiser" unexpectedly became the interim coach in order to salvage a disastrous season. He never had much interest in coaching.

Erich Ribbeck, with whom Beckenbauer had a friendly relationship and whom he had lured to the Isar as vice-president, was not as successful as expected. So the club opted for an internal solution, which Beckenbauer initially resisted, partly to avoid upsetting his friend Ribbeck. Kaiser, then 48 years old, ultimately went ahead and led the team to its 13th title.

Louis van Gaal - FC Bayern Munich (2009/10 season): Van Gaal, then 58 years old, was the first Dutch coach to win the German championship. He quickly instilled his positional and possession-based approach to football in the Bayern players. Van Gaal also integrated the previously relatively unknown young players Holger Badstuber and Thomas Müller from day one.

The result: The self-proclaimed "party animal," who placed a high value on discipline within his team, secured the title by five points over FC Schalke 04. He also won the cup. Van Gaal coached the record champions until April 2011, before being dismissed due to a lack of success, with his team having slipped to fourth place in the table.

Pep Guardiola - FC Bayern Munich (2013/14 season): Under the Spaniard, who took over from Jupp Heynckes, FC Bayern consolidated and even expanded its dominance in the league. Guardiola's signature left its mark on the club. Under him, FCB immediately surpassed its (own) record-breaking season of the previous year. By matchday 27 – earlier than ever before – the club had already been crowned German champions. It was the first March championship in Bundesliga history.

FCB won seven titles under Guardiola, but the truly great triumph eluded them. Three consecutive times, they were eliminated in the semifinals of the Champions League. By the end of his three years, Guardiola had comfortably won three league titles and two cups before moving on to Manchester City and celebrating further success.

Carlo Ancelotti - FC Bayern Munich (2016/17 season): It was a relatively short liaison between one of the world's best coaches and FC Bayern. The Italian's time in Munich, having taken over from Guardiola, lasted just one year and about three months. "Ultimately, we coaches need the support of the club; that's fundamental," said Ancelotti, making clear what he had been lacking in Munich. But despite the many misunderstandings, it was enough to immediately win the Bundesliga title. Under Ancelotti, Bayern prevailed over RB Leipzig by 15 points.

Hans-Dieter Flick - FC Bayern Munich (2019/20 season): In just 19 months, Hansi Flick has written a true success story at FC Bayern. Highly attractive football paired with numerous goals and seven titles were Flick's final report card at FCB. As assistant to the sacked Niko Kovac, Flick became head coach in November 2019 – and was unstoppable.

On matchday 10, Flick took over Munich in fourth place, and by the end of the season, FCB had won the German championship with a 13-point lead over Borussia Dortmund. Overall, Flick was twice German champion and won the DFB Cup, the Champions League , the Club World Cup, and the German and European Supercups once each. Flick won 70 of 86 matches, giving him a win rate of 81 percent – ​​a record for a Bayern coach in professional football.