Barcelona appoint Flick as new boss

Hansi Flick won 83% of his games as Bayern Munich boss

Barcelona have appointed former Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick as their new boss on a two-year contract.

Flick, was who sacked by Germany in September 2023, takes over from Xavi, who was sacked last week.

Flick's stint with Germany came after he guided Bayern Munich to a treble in 2020, winning the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League.

Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski, 35, played under Flick at the Allianz Arena for two seasons.

"It's a big honour, a dream for me to sign my contract here," said Flick on Wednesday.

"We won some titles with Bayern Munich and my hunger is really big for titles.

"I would like to stay on this path with Barcelona and I think we can achieve a lot together and this is an important thing.

"The philosophy they have is similar to mine, lots of possession and really attacking football and these other things I love."

Departing Barcelona boss Xavi, who was sacked a month after the club confirmed he would stay, said his successor will "suffer" in the role.

He guided Barcelona to La Liga and Spanish Super Cup glory in his first full season in charge but this season the Catalan giants finished 10 points short of La Liga champions Real Madrid.

In a statement on Wednesday, Barcelona said it had "chosen a man well known for his teams' high pressing, intense and daring style of play which has brought him great success at club level and international level, winning pretty much all there is to win in the world of football".

Flick has been out of work since he was sacked by Germany eight months ago.

Hansi Flick will be reunited with Robert Lewandowski, who scored 26 goals in all competitions for Barcelona in 2023-24

Analysis: 'A changed man'

BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague

Hansi Flick returns a changed man. A hip replacement has left him pain-free following years of discomfort and lack of sleep.

His renewed fitness has allowed him to touch base again with his oldest friends including Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and his former colleague Danny Rohl, who has turned things around at Sheffield Wednesday, plus Roberto de Zerbi at Brighton.

While Guardiola and De Zerbi are fixated with possession of the ball and controlling the game, Flick's ideas are more concerned with mixing a direct approach with possession.

As a coach, despite living through an era that is becoming more and more driven by data, Flick strongly believes in trusting his instincts, something that shone when his Bayern Munich side won the Champions League in 2020.

It won't be a problem for him to settle in Spain because he has, for the past 15 or so years, enjoyed holidaying on the small Spanish island Formentera.

While he is not currently fluent in Spanish, it would not take him too long to master the language.