Hansi Flick banking on Jerome Boateng for final Bayern Munich trophy push
Hansi Flick has said he is delighted to have Jerome Boateng available as Bayern Munich target a Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League double.
Boateng, who was a key part of the Bayern side that won a sextuple of trophies over the past year, is out of contract at the end of the campaign.
The centre-back missed their 1-0 victory at RB Leipzig last weekend through suspension, but Bayern boss Flick is relieved to have him back for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
The match in Munich is a repeat of last season's final, which 32-year-old Boateng helped Bayern to win 1-0 in Lisbon.
"Everyone knows how I feel about Jerome and the quality that he has," Flick said at a pre-game press conference on Tuesday. "I think he's having a very good season, like he did last year as well.
"He's very concentrated on his job and that's a good basis for him to perform well - which is what he's been doing lately. For a coaching team it's always good to be able to count on a player like that, who has such experience and great quality."
Boateng has had a tremendously successful stint with Bayern so far. The former Hertha Berlin and Hamburg player joined from Manchester City in July 2011, and he has since helped the six-time European champions win the Bundesliga in each of the last eight seasons.
Capped 76 times by Germany, with whom he won the FIFA World Cup in 2014, Boateng has twice won the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup with Bayern.
The 2015/16 German Footballer of the Year was an integral part of Bayern's treble-winning side in 2012/13, while he has also tasted DFB Cup success five times in his career.
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