Jupp Heynckes reaches 150 wins in charge of Bayern Munich
After becoming the first person in history to pass 500 Bundesliga victories in November last year, Jupp Heynckes has reached yet another milestone at Bayern Munich.
Saturday’s astonishing 5-2 victory over Hoffenheim was Heynckes’ 150th triumph as coach of the record champions. Only legendary tacticians Ottmar Hitzfeld (158) and Udo Lattek (184) clocked up more wins than the Mönchengladbach native while in charge of the Munich giants.
The league leaders had to come from behind to beat Julian Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim on Matchday 20, falling 2-0 down inside 12 minutes at the Allianz Arena before strikes from Robert Lewandowski, Jerome Boateng, Kingsley Coman, Arturo Vidal and Sandro Wagner - his first league goal for the club - completed a memorable afternoon for the 72-year-old.
“It was a fantastic game for our fans,” said Heynckes following his 333rd win as a Bundesliga coach. “It was remarkable that they kept backing us after we went 2-0 down. They kept cheering and believing in my players. That sort of thing shouldn’t be taken for granted. I’m very pleased overall, even though I would have preferred us to keep a clean sheet!”
Watch: Heynckes: "We spoiled the crowd!"
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Nagelsmann, 42 years Heynckes’ junior, was magnanimous in defeat, congratulating the former Borussia Mönchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannover and Bayer Leverkusen boss on reaching 150 top-flight victories for Bayern. “Before the game I was still calling him “Sie” [the formal form of “Du”] but he has asked me to call him by his first name now,” the 30-year-old joked with reporters at full time. “Congratulations, Jupp!”
Since replacing Carlo Ancelotti in the Allianz Arena hot seat in October, Heynckes has continued where he left off after winning an unprecedented treble of Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League in 2013. The Bavarians have won 12 of their 13 league matches under his stewardship this season, their only defeat coming at Heynckes’ former club Gladbach on Matchday 13.
The former Borussia and Hannover forward, who netted a remarkable 317 goals in 497 league appearances during a 15-year playing career, is currently the only person other than Otto Rehhagel to feature in 1,000 German top-flight matches as a player or coach. With Heynckes just ten games shy of Rehhagel’s grand total of 1,033, he is set to break yet another Bundesliga record when Bayern travel to the HDI Arena on Matchday 31.