1979–91: Early career Borussia Mönchengladbach After his playing career, Heynckes stayed with Borussia Mönchengladbach and served the club for eight more years, first as an assistant and then as a manager, succeeding
Udo Lattek in this position in 1979 at age 34. Heynckes took over on 1 July 1979 and in the
1979–80 season, Heynckes led Mönchengladbach to the
1980 UEFA Cup final, where they lost to
Eintracht Frankfurt. They won the first leg 3–2 and lost the second leg 1–0. in the
league, Mönchengladbach finished in seventh place. The
1980–81 season started with a 2–1 loss to
Fortuna Düsseldorf. During the 1980–81 season, Mönchengladbach defeated
OSV Hannover,
TuS Langerwehe, Bünder SV, and
Atlas Delmenhorst to get to the quarter-final of the DFB-Pokal where they lost to
1. FC Kaiserslautern. The
1981–82 season started with a 4–2 loss to
Werder Bremen on 8 August 1981. Then they went on a six-match undefeated streak. They were knocked out of the
UEFA Cup in the second round by
Dundee United. For the third consecutive season, Mönchengladbach was eliminated in the quarter-final of the DFB-Pokal. In the
1983–84 season,
Die Fohlen finished third in the Bundesliga, missing out on
the league title to
VfB Stuttgart on
goal difference. The team also reached the
DFB-Pokal final, losing to Bayern Munich on
penalties. Mönchengladbach finished the
1984–85 season in fourth place. They were eliminated in the second round of the
UEFA Cup by
Widzew Łódź and in the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal by Bayern Munich. Mönchengladbach finished the
1985–86 season in fourth place in the league. In the third-round of the
UEFA Cup, Gladbach beat
Real Madrid 5–1 at the
Rheinstadion. However, a 4–0 loss at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the second leg saw Borussia eliminated on the
away goals rule. In his
final season in charge, Heynckes led Mönchengladbach to another third-place finish and the
UEFA Cup semi-final. Despite not winning a trophy during his spell as manager of his hometown club, a record that earned him the nickname "the champion without a title", Heynckes finished with a record of 169 wins, 77 draws and 97 losses. In his
first season, Bayern won the
DFB-Supercup. Bayern defeated
Hamburger SV 2–1. and were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal and the
European Cup. and
1989–90 seasons. In the
1988–89 season, Bayern were eliminated in the round of 16 in the DFB-Pokal and the semi-final in the
UEFA Cup. Bayern started the
1989–90 season with a 4–3 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the
DFB-Supercup on 25 July 1989. Then they defeated 1. FC Nürnberg 3–2 on matchday one on 29 July 1989. They were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in the round of 16 and they were knocked out once again in the semi-final of the
European Cup. Then they were eliminated in the first round of the German Cup on 4 August 1990. In the
European Cup Bayern were knocked out of a European semi-final for the third time in a row. Bayern started the
1991–92 season with a 1–1 draw against Werder Bremen. Bayern advanced to the second round of the
UEFA Cup after eliminating
Cork City. Bayern were in 12th place at the time of his sacking. The team continued to struggle after his departure, eventually finishing five points clear of relegation in tenth place. The decision to sack Heynckes was later described by general manager
Uli Hoeneß as "the biggest mistake of my career". Under Heynckes, Bayern reached the semi-finals of the 1988–89 UEFA Cup, the 1989–90 European Cup and the 1990–91 European Cup. In each campaign, they were knocked out by the team which went on to win the competition. Heynckes finished with a record of 113 wins, 46 draws and 39 losses. becoming only the third German manager in Spain's
La Liga after
Hennes Weisweiler and Udo Lattek, both of whom managed
Barcelona. Heynckes managed his first match against
Cádiz on 5 September 1992. He led them to an eighth-placed finish in his
first season. They were eliminated in the third round of
Copa del Rey. He led the
Basque club to fifth spot in the league and qualification for the
UEFA Cup in
1993–94. They were eliminated in the fourth round of the
Copa del Rey. His final match was a 3–2 win against
Tenerife.
Eintracht Frankfurt On 1 July 1994, Heynckes returned to Germany to become manager of
Eintracht Frankfurt and was manager until 2 April 1995. His first match was a 6–0 win against
I. SC Göttingen 05 in the first round of the German Cup. Heynckes' spell at the Eintracht was problematic and he clashed with the club's star players
Tony Yeboah,
Jay-Jay Okocha and
Maurizio Gaudino. In December 1994, the three players were punished for a perceived lack of effort with extra training sessions. Because of this the players refused to play in Eintracht's next match against Hamburger SV and were suspended indefinitely by the club. Gaudino was loaned out to
Manchester City later in the month and Yeboah was sold to
Leeds United in January 1995. Okocha was later allowed to return to the team before leaving for
Fenerbahçe in 1996. Heynckes left the club on 2 April 1995 after a 3–0 home defeat to
Schalke 04 Heynckes finished with a record of 12 wins, 10 draws and 12 losses. In his
first season, he led the team from the
Canary Islands into the
UEFA Cup with a fifth-placed finish in
La Liga. In the
Copa del Rey, they got to the quarter-finals where they lost to
Atlético Madrid. The
following season the club finished ninth in La Liga and reached the semi-finals of the
UEFA Cup, where they were beaten by eventual winners Schalke 04. In the
Copa del Rey, Tenerife had a bye until the fourth round, where they were eliminated by
Real Betis after losing both legs of the tie. In June 1997, Heynckes was hired by the
Spanish champions Real Madrid. His first match was a 2–1 loss to
Barcelona in the first leg of the
Spanish Super Cup. Real Madrid would go on to win the Super Cup after winning the second leg 4–1. However, the lack of domestic success –
finishing fourth, eleven points behind champions Barcelona – saw his tenure terminated at the end of the season.
1999–2003: Benfica and return to Athletic After his dismissal by Real Madrid, Heynckes took a year out of football before joining Portuguese club
Benfica for the
1999–2000 season. in Heynckes' only full season in charge and were knocked out of the
UEFA Cup at the third round with an 8–1 aggregate defeat by
Celta Vigo, losing the first leg 7–0. They were knocked out in the round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup. After releasing club icon and
captain João Pinto, who then joined
Lisbon rivals Sporting CP, after transfer listing him. Benfica were tied for seventh place at the time of his departure. In 2001, Heynckes returned to Athletic Bilbao for a second spell as coach. missing out on qualification to the
UEFA Cup by a point, and reached the semi-finals of the
Copa del Rey. The
following season, Athletic secured a seventh-place finish, again finishing one point short of
UEFA Cup qualification. They were eliminated in the second round of the
Copa del Rey. In June 2003, Heynckes left Athletic to become head coach of Schalke 04.
2003–07: Return to the Bundesliga Schalke In 2003, after eight years managing in
Iberia, Heynckes returned to Germany to manage Schalke 04. His first match was a 1–0 win against
Dacia Chișinău on 19 July 2003 in the
Intertoto Cup. His first league match was a 2–2 draw against Borussia Dortmund on 2 August 2003. Despite targeting a top five finish upon his appointment, Schalke finished the
2003–04 season in seventh place in the
Bundesliga. Schalke started
2004–05 season with a 5–0 win against
Vardar on 17 July 2004 in the
Intertoto Cup. Schalke defeated
Hertha BSC II in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. On 15 September 2004, Heynckes was fired by the club's general manager
Rudi Assauer. Heynckes finished with a record of 28 wins, 14 draws and 15 losses.
Borussia Mönchengladbach In May 2006, Heynckes returned to manage Borussia Mönchengladbach, the club where he had begun his career as both a player and manager. Heynckes' first match was a 2–0 win against
Energie Cottbus on 12 August 2006. Heynckes' comeback started well, with Gladbach in fifth position in the
Bundesliga at the end of the seventh matchday after winning each of their opening four home matches. He resigned on 31 January 2007, however, after 14-straight Bundesliga matches without a win with the coach requiring police protection for matches against
VfL Bochum and Energie Cottbus in the previous month. On departing Borussia, Heynckes refused a pay-off and returned his company car to the club office freshly cleaned and with a full tank of petrol. In May 2013, upon returning to
Borussia-Park for his originally final match as a Bundesliga coach, Heynckes said: "This is my club. It's where I started as a 19-year-old professional, then worked as a coach. Since then I have come full circle. Mönchengladbach is my home town, I spent 23 years at the club, so this will not be just a normal game for me." The team's fortunes did not improve after Heynckes' departure and the club was relegated at the end of the season, finishing last in the Bundesliga table. Heynckes finished with a record of five wins, four draws and 12 losses. and returned to football in April 2009, becoming
caretaker manager of his former club Bayern Munich, replacing the sacked
Jürgen Klinsmann. Bayern were in danger of missing out on qualification for the
Champions League upon Heynckes' appointment, but the team won four and drew one of its remaining matches, finishing second in the
Bundesliga, two points behind
champions VfL Wolfsburg. The four Bayern wins were against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Energie Cottbus,
Bayer Leverkusen, and VfB Stuttgart. The draw was against
1899 Hoffenheim.
Bayer Leverkusen in 2011 On 5 June 2009, Heynckes signed a two-year contract to manage Bayer Leverkusen. Heynckes' first match was a 1–0 German Cup win against
SV Babelsberg 03 on 31 July 2009. Bayer Leverkusen were eventually eliminated by Kaiserslautern in the second round. The team's unbeaten record finally came to an end in March 2010 with a 3–2 defeat at 1. FC Nürnberg, after which Leverkusen only won two of their final nine matches and finished in fourth place. In the
2010–11 season, Leverkusen finished runner-up in the
Bundesliga to Borussia Dortmund, thus qualifying for the
Champions League for the first time since
2005. It was also the club's highest final league position since the
2001–02 season. They were knocked out in the second round of the DFB-Pokal for the second consecutive season. They also reached the round of 16 in the
Europa League. On 25 March 2011, it was announced that Heynckes would be replacing
Louis van Gaal as the manager of Bayern Munich at the beginning of the
2011–12 season. At the age of 66, he was the oldest coach in the Bundesliga. Heynckes took over a team which had finished third in the
2010–11 Bundesliga, three points behind his Bayer Leverkusen side. He finished with a record of 44 wins, 26 draws and 14 losses at Bayer Leverkusen.
2011–13: Third stint at Bayern Munich 2011–12 season loss to
Chelsea Heynckes' first match was a 3–0 win against
Eintracht Braunschweig in the first round of the
2011–12 DFB-Pokal. Bayern started the league season with a surprise 1–0 defeat to Heynckes' former club Borussia Mönchengladbach at the
Allianz Arena, before six consecutive
Bundesliga wins
without conceding took them to the top of the table. In all competitions, Bayern kept 12 consecutive clean sheets, including four
Champions League matches, the last of which came in a 4–0 win over
Hertha BSC. This run of good form ended with a 2–1 defeat to
Hannover 96, and losses to Borussia Dortmund and
Mainz 05 soon followed, allowing Dortmund, the previous season's champions, to overtake Bayern at the top of the table. Bayern briefly regained top spot in January and February, but after the
Bavarians' draw with Hamburger SV on matchday 20, Dortmund again gained first position and went on to retain their title by eight points, ending the season on a 28-match unbeaten run. On 17 March 2012, Heynckes oversaw his 600th Bundesliga match as manager, a 6–0 victory over Hertha BSC. His opposing coach that day,
Otto Rehhagel, is the only coach who has managed more Bundesliga matches, with over 800. After finishing the Bundesliga season in second place, Bayern faced champions Dortmund in the
2012 DFB-Pokal final, losing 5–2. Despite their disappointments in domestic competitions, Heynckes' Bayern had qualified for the
2012 Champions League Final in April 2012, defeating
Real Madrid on penalty kicks in the
semi-finals. In the final, held at the Allianz Arena,
die Roten faced English club
Chelsea. Despite controlling most of the match and taking a 1–0 lead in the 83rd minute, Bayern lost the match 4–3 on
penalties. This meant that Bayern had finished as runners-up in all three major competitions in which they had competed in
2011–12.
2012–13 season Bayern started the
2012–13 season by defeating Borussia Dortmund 2–1 in the
DFL-Supercup. It was a significant result as the Bavarians had lost all three encounters with
die Schwarzgelben in the previous season, and the last five encounters between the clubs overall. Bayern's
Bundesliga campaign began with a record-breaking eight consecutive wins before they suffered their only league defeat of the season at Bayer Leverkusen. Bayern quickly regained form and went into the winter break nine points clear at the top of the table. On 16 January 2013, Bayern announced that former Barcelona coach
Pep Guardiola would replace Heynckes in July 2013. Though the club's press release announcing Bayern's agreement with Guardiola had claimed Heynckes would be retiring on the expiration of his contract, he stated he would not make a decision on his future until the end of the season. After returning from the winter break, Bayern only dropped two points in the entire second half of the Bundesliga season, winning 14 consecutive matches from January onwards and being confirmed as
champions on 6 April 2013. This was the earliest a team had ever won the Bundesliga, and Bayern broke
several other records during the season including; most points in a season (91), highest league winning points margin (25), most wins in a season (29), longest winning streak in a season (14), most clean sheets in a season (21), best goal difference in a season (+80) and fewest goals conceded in a season (18). The team scored in every match and suffered only one defeat. On 23 February 2013, Heynckes participated in his 1,000th Bundesliga match as player and manager combined, making him the man with the second most appearances in Bundesliga history. On 14 May 2013, he took charge of a Bundesliga match for what he claimed to be the final time. Fittingly, the match was away at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Heynckes' hometown club who he served for over 20 years as a player and coach. In the
Champions League, Bayern faced Barcelona at the semi-final stage, thrashing the favourites 7–0 on aggregate to reach a second successive
final. The performance was seen as a display of physical and tactical superiority of Bayern over Barcelona. In the
2013 Champions League final, Heynckes' Bayern defeated Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund 2–1 at
Wembley, making him the
fourth manager (after
Ernst Happel,
Ottmar Hitzfeld, and
José Mourinho) to win the competition with two clubs. On 1 June 2013, Heynckes took charge of Bayern for the last time in the
2013 DFB-Pokal final against VfB Stuttgart. Bayern won the match 3–2, becoming the first German club to complete
the treble of the domestic league, the domestic cup and the European Cup. On 4 June 2013, Heynckes announced he would not coach a team during the
2013–14 season. On 21 June, in an interview with
Der Spiegel, Heynckes said: "After everything that's happened over the past two years, I'm ready for some peace and quiet. After this string of successes, I could transfer to just about any club in Europe. I have a problem with the finality of saying 'never'. But I can assure you that I have no intention of coaching again. I had a worthy ending."
2017–18: Return to management Fourth stint at Bayern On 6 October 2017, Heynckes was appointed Bayern Munich manager until the end of the
2017–18 season.
Carlo Ancelotti was dismissed and
Willy Sagnol managed the team on 1 October against
Hertha BSC. Heynckes officially took the role on 9 October. His first match in his fourth stint was a 5–0 win against Freiburg. On 4 April 2018, Heynckes set a new Champions League record of most consecutive wins as a manager with twelve wins by defeating Sevilla in the quarter-final 1st leg match in
2017–18 UEFA Champions League, surpassing the record of ten wins in a row set by Louis van Gaal and Carlo Ancelotti. Bayern president
Uli Hoeneß said numerous times in interviews that he wanted Heynckes to stay as manager for the 2018–19 season. Heynckes said in an interview with
Sport Bild that he was only going to manage Bayern until the end of the season. Heynckes managed Bayern in 26 Bundesliga matches. He won 22, lost three and one match ended with a draw. In the Champions League, Heynckes was in charge of ten matches. He won seven, lost one and two matches ended with a draw. His only defeat was against his old club, Real Madrid, in the first leg in the semi-finals.
Retirement Heynckes retired at the end of the 2017–18 season. In his career, Heynckes managed 1,265 matches in all competitions and in three leagues. He managed 668
Bundesliga matches with five clubs, won 343, lost 164 and drew 161 matches. Heynckes managed 200
La Liga matches with three clubs. In La Liga, he won 79, lost 62 and drew 59 matches. He also managed 38 matches in the
Primeira Liga with Benfica, winning 23 matches, losing eight and drawing seven matches. ==Career statistics==