Sammer: ´Heynckes could be my dad´

Bayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer has heaped praise on manager Jupp Heynckes.

Sammer stressed the 67-year-old coach is respected not only at the Allianz Arena but all over the world.

“He is doing a really good job, and he is respected both here and by the world outside,” Sammer told the Bayern website.

Heynckes rejoined Bayern in 2011 for his third spell in charge after previously leading the club in 1987 and briefly in 2009 as a caretaker coach, and Sammer said the pair enjoy an excellent relationship.

“We have an outstanding relationship,” he said.

“I do not know if the coach will like this, but he could be my dad. I am enthralled by the way he thinks about football.

“As I said, the basics are in place, or I would not have come. If you want a relationship based on trust and the head coach doesn’t want it, it can’t work.

“But for all this, I don’t believe we will win every game this season. There will be situations where we have to put up a united front.”

Bayern open their Bundesliga campaign with a trip to newly-promoted outfit Greuther Fuerth on Saturday August 25.