Hoeness admits Heynckes rift over Pep

Uli Hoeness admits there was a rift between him and coach Jupp Heynckes following the announcement that Pep Guardiola would join the club.

Heynckes, who left Bayern Munich for Bayer Leverkusen in 2009, was reinstalled at the Allianz Arena helm in 2011 in a bid to halt the charge of Borussia Dortmund.

Since then, the 67-year-old has successfully wrestled the Bundesliga title from Dortmund’s grasp this season and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, as well as the final of the DFB Pokal.

However, Hoeness’ decision to reveal Guardiola would replace Heynckes at the end of the campaign led to a souring of relations between the club president and current coach.

“I admit, there was some tension between Jupp and I. But that has completely returned to normal. Jupp and I are friends and we’ll stay that way,” he said.

Bayern have become the fastest team to secure the league title in the history of the Bundesliga, and Hoeness believes they must thank their rivals Dortmund, who have forced Bayern to improve.

“We are grateful to Dortmund. They have really challenged us and thus led to another level. Thanks to BVB we have become so strong. Dortmund is not a fluke. They will be a permanent adversary,” he said.