Michael Henke interview on anniversary of 2001 Champions League win

Notepads from Ottmar Hitzfeld in the FC Bayern Museum reveal how meticulously the then Bayern head coach prepared for the 2001 Champions League final. In an interview with members’ magazine 51, his long-time assistant Michael Henke explains how Hitzfeld formed top players into a team and then won the famous trophy.

Interview with Michael Henke

Mr Henke, there are notepads from Ottmar Hitzfeld from the 2001 Champions League final archived in the FC Bayern Museum. How do you feel seeing these notes now, 25 years on?
“I remember that Ottmar always had a little pad on him. He got it out on the bus or the plane after every match and made notes in preparation for the meeting the next day. Even when we’d been crowned German champions in the last second, like in Hamburg in 2001. That was Ottmar: completely pragmatic and disciplined. I, on the other hand, needed an evening after exciting or unfortunate matches before I had the required focus again.”

A lot of bullet points can be seen on one page.
“Those are Ottmar’s notes for the team talk before the final in Milan. At the top you see our starting line-up, the subs bench and the opponents’ expected XI. Ottmar even made a note of which players from Valencia had a strong left foot. Underneath that it’s about the opponents at set pieces. Who’s in the wall? Who marks who at corners? Effe (Stefan Effenberg) was a kind of free man there. During the match, Ottmar then added the events of the match: the substitutions, the goals, the penalty takers. And in the top right corner is the referee: Dick Jol from Holland.”

At the bottom, Ottmar Hitzfeld has written down what he wants to say to the defence, the attack and regarding “morale.”
“It’s typical that the defence and attack were more or less weighted equally. The attack is obviously important – you need goals to win. But back then we always said: we’ll only win trophies through the defence. Kuffour, Andersson and Linke were our basis. Three man-markers who gave us a lot of stability. Those three started in the final as well, but we changed to a back four at half-time: Jancker came on for Sagnol and Lizarazu moved back.”

Further notes can be seen on two smaller slips, where Hitzfeld noted the height of every opposition player, for example.
“That’s obviously important information for set pieces. On one of the slips, you can see the exact assignment for corners. Thomas Linke for example, number 25, was responsible for Valencia’s Carew, number 7 – he’s 1.96 metres tall. You also see the manning of the posts: Scholl on the left, number 7, Lizarazu on the right, number 3. Below that, Valencia’s four free-kick takers and their specialities are listed, along with the composition of our wall. The arrow next to Owen Hargreaves, number 23, means that he was to immediately charge down if the ball was laid off.”

Was the preparation for the final more meticulous than usual?
“We certainly discussed details more than usual, but Ottmar was generally someone who always looked at tactics in great detail. He analysed everything with incredible meticulousness and ran through various scenarios. What might happen? How do I react to it? Three or four at the back? Very often he was right in his decisions.”

What was your impression of Ottmar Hitzfeld before this final?
“He was the same as always: controlled. Of course he was also tense, but we didn’t want to show any signs of nervousness, so as not to unnecessarily affect the team. Ottmar always kept himself under control.”

Was that at the heart of his coaching work: control?
“When we came to Munich in 1998, Bayern were regarded as uncoachable. FC Hollywood. We obviously considered how to deal with that. Our maxim was, firstly, to not react to comments from outside. Franz Beckenbauer could say whatever he wanted, the media could write what they wanted. And secondly, we needed to get to grips with the team.”

And how did you manage that?
“One method was heavy fines, which Ottmar had learned in Italy. The advantage with them was that we could discipline players without having to suspend them, which would’ve weakened our team. The second and equally important measure was the rotation, which Ottmar invented. We let everyone play so that everyone felt they belonged. At the same time, we could manage the workload and then had enough in the tank at the end of the season.”

You worked with Ottmar Hitzfeld for 12 years. What impressed you most about him?
“His outstanding quality was his interaction with the players. As coach you sometimes have to make tough decisions, but none of his former players say a bad word about Ottmar today. The trick is to combine it with absolute authority. No player acted up with Ottmar, everyone had respect – and yet there was no resentment. I firmly believe that the most important quality for a coach at this level is team leadership. All the great coaches have that quality.”

Right at the bottom, Hitzeld wrote: ‘You’ll make history today!’ How great was that confidence in victory – even with 1999 in the back of your minds?
“I can only speak for myself: I was so convinced on that night that we’d win, more than I ever experienced before or after. I’m actually quite a pessimistic person by nature, but in Milan I never doubted, even though everything went against us: we conceded a dubious penalty and missed a penalty ourselves, then messed up the first kick in the penalty shootout. Somehow the team – particularly Stefan Effenberg – exuded this belief that this was our match now.”

Four days before that, the team had won the Bundesliga title with the last kick in Hamburg. How much of an effect did that experience have in Milan?
“Hamburg was insane! The fact we managed to turn it around gave us a huge boost. We were totally convinced: nothing can knock us down. That’s how we went into that final.”

What was Ottmar Hitzfeld like after the final whistle in Milan? Did he let go for once? 
“I hardly ever saw him celebrate as wildly as that. That said, Ottmar is actually a highly emotional person. Sometimes you could tell just how much was bubbling inside him, but he never let those emotions show on the outside. After Pellegrino’s last penalty, which Oliver Kahn saved, the entire bench stormed onto the field. It was an overwhelming feeling of joy. After 1999 and Hamburg, there was a huge outpouring in Milan. Ottmar regained his composure relatively quickly, though. At the banquet, he stepped back and enjoyed the victory with his family.”

Are you still in contact today?
“We telephone regularly. And as soon as he comes back to Munich again, we’ll definitely meet up.”

Owen Hargreaves looks back at FC Bayern’s 2001 Champions League triumph: