Hansi Flick calls Joshua Kimmich a “mentality monster” ahead of der Klassiker vs. Dortmund

With how much he’s grown as a player both on and off the pitch, there aren’t enough superlatives to define Joshua Kimmich and the influence he has for both Bayern Munich and the German National Team. He is, without a doubt, a future captain for both club and country and ahead of this weekend’s der Klassiker installment against Borussia Dortmund, Hansi Flick highlighted just how much Kimmich means to this Bayern team (FCBayern.com).

“Joshua Kimmich is an absolute professional, a mentality monster,” Flick said of his #6. He continued, “he’s always in the game, he never gives up. He’s one who always pushes but of course has enormous quality on the ball.”

A testament to Kimmich’s “never say die” attitude, he scored the winning goal in Bayern’s last two meetings against Dortmund; the DFL-Supercup win at the end of September in the Bundesliga win at the end of May. Both of those winning goals were top quality and highlighted his ability to make a massive difference in the most important matches. This season, he’s already provided seven assists, four of which have come in the Bundesliga keeping him joint-top in the league along with Thomas Muller and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Jonas Hofmann. Only Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (4) has more UEFA Champions League assists than Kimmich (3) this season.

While the 6-2 score line may have slightly flattered Bayern against RB Salzburg midweek in the Champions League, Kimmich’s performance was solid in just about every department. “His passes and his set pieces have enormous quality. That’s why he plays for Bayern Munich and is why we’ve also been so successful with him,” Flick said. It was his pinpoint corner that lead to Jerome Boateng’s header to put Bayern up 3-2 in the 79th minute to start what was the first of four goals scored in the final 11 minutes of the match.

Photo by Roland Krivec/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Hopefully for Bayern, the “mentality monster” will be able to work his magic against Dortmund once again to but Bayern clear at the top of the table with a little bit of separation from their bitter rivals. He’s done it before, so there’s no reason he can’t do it again.