Daily Schmankerl: Jupp Heynckes cursed his 1998 Real Madrid squad (literally); the aftermath of Bayern Munich vs. Hertha Berlin; and MORE!

Jupp Heynckes is a golden god (Marca)

A week before Real Madrid won the Champions League final in 1998 , Jupp Heynckes worked a little “blue” when describing his feelings toward the team. The legendary coach had some choice words for team president Lorenzo Sanz on why he could not work with the squad and described some of the players in a less than flattering light. This is how Sanz described the incident:

A week before playing Juventus I called Jupp and asked him how he was doing, he told me that he was deflated and that he wouldn’t work with the team. I asked him how he couldn’t work with the team and told him that he’d then left me deflated. I then had to gather seven or eight of the more important players and tell them that Jupp felt he couldn’t work with them, that they were sons of bitches and that he couldn’t win with them.

If that isn’t vintage Jupp, nothing is.

Die Folgen: Bayern’s hard-fought 1-0 win over Hertha BSC (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich battled to pull out an extremely difficult win over a very strong Hertha Berlin side yesterday. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• Jerome Boateng was fantastic. It was great to see such a quality effort from him.
• Ditto Javi Martinez, who is experiencing a resurgence of late and is proving that he has something to offer the squad down the stretch.
• It was a terrific effort from David Alaba as well.
• Niko Kovac’s precarious handle on the roster (aka his player management) is being tested. Kovac is getting good results, but not necessarily doing in it a sustainable way at this point.
• Kovac leaving Thomas Muller mired on the bench is having severe, adverse effects on the offense. Granted, Muller will miss the next leg against Liverpool, but he absolutely should be getting more field time than he has been of late. It is no coincidence that Robert Lewandowski’s production is nearing slump status as well. Kovac needs to figure some things out.
• The Bayern offense just looks out of sync again. There have been periods of this type of play throughout the season, but nothing about the squad’s play in the final third looks smooth right now.
• For as good as Joshua Kimmich was against Liverpool, he struggled yesterday. A rest day would likely help him a bit as he carries one of the biggest workloads on the squad.
• Hertha Berlin’s Niklas Stark had a phenomenal game and was seemingly everywhere on the field in repeatedly making stop after stop on Bayern. That performance did not go unnoticed.

• Overall, Hertha Berlin is just a very solid team. Die Alte Dame has made great strides in the past year and should be considered a team on the rise.

If you missed our Match Awards or Observations, check the links below:

Ribery unravels a bit (L’Equipe)

After an uneven performance, Franck Ribery was substituted off for Kingsley Coman in the 58th minute yesterday. As captured by L’Equipe, the Frenchman was not happy:

After a disappointing performance against Hertha Berlin (1-0), Franck Ribery was logically replaced by Kingsley Coman (who was injured later) just before the hour mark. A decision that the left winger of Bayern did not accept, refusing to shake the hand of coach Niko Kovac when he returned to the bench.

ICYMI: Well, a whole lot of things went down (Bavarian Football Works)

This has been an eventful couple of days. Sure, Bayern dropped Hertha Berlin as mentioned above, but these “not so great” things also happened:

• Kingsley Coman was injured once again.
• Rafinha went public with his bitterness and perceived lack of respect from Kovac.
• Doubt is seemingly seeping in about the quality of former Vancouver Whitecaps player Alphonso Davies.

So, yeah, if you missed anything, you should definitely catch up.

Rakitic fed Messi for an awesome goal (beIN Sports)

Rumored Bayern Munich target Ivan Rakitic gave Lionel Messi a beautiful feed and Messi superbly finished it. This is a must see.