Home-town club farewells Heynckes in style

Jupp Heynckes said an emotional goodbye to Bayern Munich on Saturday, but admitted his heart still lies with Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Heynckes, who was born in Moenchengladbach, began his playing career at his home town club in 1963, before taking over as manager in 1979.

It was the beginning of a distinguished coaching career which took him to the likes of Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid and Benfica, as well as three different spells in charge of Bayern.

He will retire at the end of this season and watched his Bayern side sign off on their Bundesliga-winning campaign with a 4-3 win away to Gladbach on Saturday, despite going 3-1 down inside the first 10 minutes of the match.

“I want to say a huge thank you to the fans of Borussia Moenchengladbach, for the beautiful goodbyes,” he said.

“It shows me that … this is my home.

“Thank you.”

Bayern will now contest the UEFA Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund, who lost 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Heynckes feels Dortmund’s loss and his own team’s sloppy win indicates both clubs’ focus has already shifted to the showdown at Wembley Stadium next weekend.

“You can see with this result, and with Dortmund’s, that we cannot rule out that we are thinking about the Champions League final in the back our minds,” he said.

“That’s where I have a disadvantage within my team. We prepared very well and intensely again this week, but everything is related to the Champions League game.

“But it was important to play well here, to win, to stay in the rhythm and also maintain our confidence and I have to say that Borussia did very well and really challenged us.”