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Call it a new experience for Hansi Flick at Bayern Munich: after hearing praise from all quarters for the way he has restored the players’ morale after Niko Kovac’s departure, Flick had to address a serious altercation in training between Leon Goretzka and Jerome Boateng.
Goretzka appears to have been the instigator. According to Bild’s account of the incident, the midfielder was angry after a contested penalty during a training game on a small pitch. When Thomas Müller tried to explain the situation to him, Goretzka dismissively gestured “blah, blah, blah” to the veteran. Müller was not amused, and Boateng vociferously defended his longtime teammate.
Thomas Müller was also annoyed with Goretzka, telling him: "Always the same sh*t with you.." - Goretzka was complaining about a penalty situation during the water break, Müller wanted to explain the situation to him, Goretzka then made a hand gesture that Müller didn't like. pic.twitter.com/A2PELnlvQu
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) January 29, 2020
Ten minutes later, in the second training game, Goretzka went in studs-up on Boateng on their first one-on-one nowhere near the ball. The veteran defender replied in kind, hitting Goretzka full on the face with an open hand:
There was a brawl in training today: Goretzka went into a challenge & fouled Boateng without the ball. The latter reacted and hit Goretzka with his hand to the face.
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) January 29, 2020
Robert Lewandowski was first to jump in and pull Boateng away. Flick then intervened and talked to Boateng [Bild] pic.twitter.com/KTvgVoadmz
Goretzka almost fell over backwards. Robert Lewandowski ran into the fray to pull Boateng away, and Flick also immediately rushed over. Boateng exclaimed,
The ball was away and he goes in all out studs-up! What the fuck is that?
While Flick calmed Boateng down, Müller and Michael Cuisance gave Goretzka a piece of their mind. “Always the same shit with you!” Müller yelled. Goretzka and Boateng did not apologize after the game.
UPDATE: Stand down, I repeat, stand down!
Crisis averted! Goretzka and Boateng made nice after all. Leon just shared this snapshot on his Instagram page:
Thanks for letting us know it’s all good, guys.