Bayern Munich’s Champions League win was a lesson for Pep Guardiola

Eurosport Germany’s Bogner told the Game of Opinions podcast that Flick refused to overcomplicate things in the Final Eight in Lisbon – an accusation that is often levelled at Guardiola.

Bayern edged Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 on Sunday to secure a domestic treble and leave Flick, who took over in November when Niko Kovac was sacked, with a remarkable record of averaging a trophy every 12 games.

“He completed all the things Pep Guardiola wanted to do at Bayern with the same style of play, with the same style of aggressive forward pressing. This is just a miracle and amazing what Hansi Flick has achieved in 36 games,” says Bogner.

Manchester City were expected to book a last-four showdown with Flick’s Bayern only to falter against Lyon in the quarter-finals as Guardiola’s tactics came in for criticism.

And Bogner believes the Spaniard has not learnt the lessons from his time in Germany, when Bayern failed to progress beyond the semi-finals in three seasons.

“At some points Guardiola simply overcomplicated it [at Bayern],” Bogner continued. “When they lost against Real Madrid [2014] and Atletico Madrid [2016], he said it was his fault, that he made tactical mistakes. In between, they lost against Barcelona which was a little more unlucky.

“There were some other circumstances, injuries etc, but underneath everything Guardiola just didn’t do the job he was there to do. And maybe with an even better team than Bayern has now.

“There was a lot of talk before this game. Should Hansi Flick change the defence? Should he bring in Benjamin Pavard? Should he bring Joshua Kimmich into midfield? And he just didn’t care. He just said ‘well, let’s run like we always do’.

Eurosport UK’s Pete Sharland agrees that some of Guardiola’s big-game decisions make little sense.

“I sort of hope Guardiola watches this and learns something. After Manchester City lost to Lyon, the big talking point was how he managed to massively overcomplicate things and he was doing that at Bayern as well," he said.

“Once you get to a certain level of football, the players are there because they’re the best in the world. You don’t need to give them too much information. Flick’s managed to get this team happy and given them freedom to play the way they want to play, rather than fit a rigid tactical structure.

“If Guardiola had calmed himself a little more, it might have been a different team in the final rather than Bayern.”