Niko Kovac hailed Bayern Munich for turning its season around after completing a double by winning the DFB-Pokal on Saturday.
Robert Lewandowski's brace and a Kingsley Coman goal saw Bayern secure a 3-0 win over RB Leipzig in the decider .
After being under enormous pressure late last year, Kovac led the German giant to a Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal.
Asked if he thought Bayern would win two titles this season, Kovac praised his team and said he never gave up hope.
"If I said yes now, then you would say I am completely crazy," he told a news conference.
"At Bayern you always go into a season with the goal to win titles. We were far behind but this team did great things later.
"The game against Benfica was the turnaround. We won 5-1 at the end of November. Since then we have only lost two matches, one against [Bayer] Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and one against Liverpool at home. So, you always have to believe.
"I am an optimist, not a dreamer. We needed to stabilise ourselves early in the season and we made it. If you give up, then you cannot achieve this. This is the strength of this team, of this club.
"But this also represents my character. I don't know how to give up, even if it was that difficult. Giving up is the first way to fail. It does not exist for me."
Kovac, contracted at Bayern until 2021, is set to remain at the helm after the double success.
The Croatian said he was looking forward to a break before beginning preparations for the 2019-20 campaign.
"I am happy that this year got a happy end. I am looking forward to the holidays. The season was tough," Kovac said.
"I'm not thinking about when the next season starts. Now I need two or three weeks to relax and get mentally ready again.
"We will work again to prepare for next season. We will plan our training and our transfers."
Comments
SHARE