Bayern Munich match Guardiola's Barcelona as Club World Cup win confirms historic sextuple

Sam France

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Bayern Munich match Guardiola's Barcelona as Club World Cup win confirms historic sextuple image

Bayern Munich have cemented their place in footballing history, matching Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona to win a historic sextuple.

Benjamin Pavard scored the only goal of the game on Thursday as Bayern beat Mexican side Tigres 1-0 to win the Club World Cup.

The Bundesliga giants are now undisputed champions of Germany, Europe and the World.

How have Bayern made history?

Bayern now hold all six titles available to them. That includes the Bundesliga, Champions League, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup, as well as their national domestic cup (DFB-Pokal) and super cup (DFL-Supercup).

Barcelona were the only team ever to hold all six titles at the same time before. In 2009, Guardiola’s legendary team won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de Espana, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup. That squad is now frequently talked about among the greatest ever to play football.

In fact, Bayern had almost matched them once before, between 2012 and 2013.

Jupp Heynckes’ team won the quadruple in 2012-13 before following up with the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup under Guardiola the following season, but they didn’t hold all six titles at once as they lost the 2013 DFL-Supercup to Borussia Dortmund.

Hansi Flick’s incredible trophy record

Perhaps the most remarkable record goes to Bayern manager Hansi Flick.

He took over as interim boss in November 2019 following the sacking of Niko Kovac. Bayern had just been humiliated 5-1 by Kovac’s former side, Eintracht Frankfurt, and were down to fourth in the Bundesliga.

Since then, Flick has won more trophies (6) than he has lost competitive games (5).

Special mentions also go to French trio Benjamin Pavard, Corentin Tolisso and Lucas Hernandez. After winning the World Cup in 2018, they are now not only sextuple winners, but champions of the world at both club and international level.

Further reading

Sam France