BERLIN, Aug. 23-- Call it a coach's lucky hand or some gut feeling. Bayern coach Hansi Flick must have felt something like that when deciding to change his starting eleven for the 2020 Champions League final against Paris St Germain. Against his habits not to change a successful line-up, Flick chose Kingsley Coman as his left flank option. The 55-year-old raised his shoulders, talking about his motivation to appoint the French international. "We play against Paris. PSG is the club he was raised in. This might be additional motivation for him," Flick commented. The Bavarian manager might have remembered his words before kick-off in the 59th-minute in Lisbon. 24-year-old Coman's header secured the lead for the German's side in a thrilling final between two world-class sides competing on eye level. In the end, it was the former Paris performer's lucky strike securing the second treble win of Bayern Munich after 2013. The winger was raised in St Germain's academy from the age of eight and made his first-tier debut at 16. He became the youngest-ever French international after being picked for the European Championship tournament at the age of 19 years and 11 months. "Paris is my home-town, and I was raised at the PSG academy, but this was long ago. My heart is with my Bavarian club," he said. After one year with Juventus Turin Coman joined Bayern in 2017, having to go through difficult times due to his repeated injury breaks. |