Hansi Flick was named the best trainer in Europe last season on Thursday afternoon. The success coach of Bayern Munich remained ahead of competitors Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool) and Julian Nagelsmann (RB Leipzig) in the election, UEFA announced on Thursday during the ceremony surrounding the draw for the new season in the Champions League. Flick is nominated to UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year the first winner of the new award from the European Football Association.

Flick’s era as Bayern’s trainer has proved an unprecedented success so far. In November 2019, he was promoted from assistant to head coach, albeit on an interim basis, following the resignation of Niko Kovac. At the time, Bayern was in fourth place in the Bundesliga. Under Flick’s leadership, the results improved considerably: thanks to a series of twenty consecutive wins, Bayern seized the treble. In the past 106 days he has won no less than 5 prizes with Bayern.

Klopp also had an unforgettable season in 2019/20. The coach led Liverpool to their first league title since 1990; the difference with number two Manchester City was ultimately eighteen points. At the start of the season, Liverpool also won the UEFA Super Cup and the World Cup for club teams, but the other tournaments were disappointing. So were the Reds already in the sixteenth finals eliminated in the Champions League by Atlético Madrid.

Nagelsmann made RB Leipzig the big surprise of last season. At the age of 33, he became the youngest trainer ever in the knockout stages of the Champions League; his team failed in the semi-finals. Previously, UEFA announced that places four to ten in the election were taken by Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain), Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Julen Lopetegui (Sevilla), Rudi Garcia (Olympique Lyon), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Josep Guardiola (Manchester City) and Antonio Conte (Internazionale). The award was voted on by a jury consisting of last season’s club trainers in the Champions League (32) and the Europa League (48), as well as 55 sports journalists from Europe.