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Niko Kovač creates history after winning German league & cup double

Niko Kovač (Photo: HNS)

25 May 2019 – Former Croatia captain and coach, Niko Kovač, has written a piece of German football history after winning the German Cup tonight with Bayern Munich.

Last Saturday, Kovač, who is assisted by his brother and former Croatian international Robert, won his first Bundesliga title and today completed the double by winning the DFB Pokal.

Bayern Munich beat RB Leipzig 3-0 in the DFB Pokal final in Berlin tonight courtesy of goals from Robert Lewandowski in the 29th and 85th minute  and Kingsley Coman in the 78th minute. 

By winning the German Cup, Kovač becomes the only person to do the league and cup double as a player and coach with Bayern Munich and just the second coach in German football history to win the DFB Pokal with the same club as a player and coach. 

The only other person to achieve that is Thomas Schaaf who done it with Werder.

Brother Robert also becomes the only person to win the league and cup double with Bayern Munich as a player and part of the coaching staff. 

Robert and Niko Kovač (Photo credit: HNS)

This is the second time that Kovač has won the DFB Pokal. He first won it last season with Eintracht Frankfurt, beating Bayern Munich ironically in the final. 

The 47-year-old is just the fourth former player to manage Bayern Munich after Søren Lerby, Franz Beckenbauer and Jürgen Klinsmann and is just the third Croat after Zlatko Čajkovski and Branko Zebec. 

Only Franz Beckenbauer previously had managed to win the league both as player and coach. 

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