News
Article
Pablo Laso, a two-time EuroLeague champ, becomes Bayern head coach

Pablo Laso, a two-time EuroLeague champ, becomes Bayern head coach

Article

12 June 20232 Mins read

Pablo Laso, a two-time EuroLeague champ, becomes Bayern head coach

FC Bayern Munich has named Pablo Laso as the team's new head coach, with the 55-year-old Spaniard signing a contract at the club until the end of the 2024-25 season. This is Laso's first job since leaving Real Madrid, where he was in charge between 2011 and 2022 and won two Turkish Airlines EuroLeague titles. Under the stewardship of Laso, Los Blancos reached seven out of a possible 10 Final Fours. Bayern hopes that he will have a similar level of success in Munich.

"He has tremendous experience, has celebrated great successes with Real Madrid and is one of the most recognized coaches in the EuroLeague," Bayern president Herbert Hainer said of Laso. "Now a new challenge awaits him at FC Bayern, and we are very happy that he believes in our vision."

Laso arrives at Bayern as the replacement for Andrea Trinchieri, who parted ways with the club at the end of the 2022-23 season following three years in charge. Bayern made the playoffs in two of Trinchieri's three seasons at the helm, but each time it lost in Game 5, first to AX Armani Exchange Milan in 2020-21 and then to FC Barcelona in 2021-22. Those two playoff appearances are the only times that Bayern has competed in the postseason, and Laso is now tasked with trying to turn the German club into a perennial playoff team.

After all, Laso already has experience in this regard, having helped shape the modern history of Real. When he joined Los Blancos in 2011, for example, they had last won the EuroLeague in 1995. Real lost back-to-back championship games in 2013 and 2014 under Laso, but in 2015 he guided the club to its ninth EuroLeague title. Then, Laso's Real became the European champion once again in 2018. In his final year on the Real bench, the 2021-22 campaign, Laso saw his team come up just short to Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the championship game.

Bayern has a brand-new arena, SAP Garden, that is getting closer to completion with each day that passes, and the goal is that the arrival of Laso, in addition to this new arena, will help the German side reach new heights both domestically and in the EuroLeague. Bayern wants to become a major force in European basketball and, with Laso at the helm, the club will fancy its chances of making that reality.