Dante is taking on a role at FC Bayern that has never existed before at the record-breaking club. The 2013 treble winner will be responsible not only for Bayern II but also for the U19 team in the Youth Champions League—and thus faces a real double burden.
Dante has been working as head coach of the second team at Säbener Straße for about six weeks. The Brazilian, who played for OGC Nice in France last season, is tasked with shaping the Regionalliga team. But that’s far from the full scope of his role at the club.
The former center back is also coaching the U19 team in the UEFA Youth League. This is the first time such a combination has existed at FC Bayern.
According to BILD, this stems from a structural change in the youth development program. Previously, individual U23 players were called up for the U19s’ European cup matches. Going forward, the core of the Youth League squad is to consist of players from the amateur team, supplemented by top talents from the U19 Bundesliga.
For the officials at the campus, it therefore made sense to have Dante coach the U19 team in Europe. The former defender also brings significantly more international experience than the new U19 coach, Leonhard Haas. With FC Bayern, Dante celebrated four German championships and three DFB Cup victories in addition to the 2013 Champions League triumph, along with 86 Bundesliga appearances.
Dante Faces a Full Schedule
The result is a tight weekly schedule: During the week, Dante is on the sidelines with the U19 team in the Youth League, and on the weekend, he leads Bayern II in the Bavarian Regional League.
His debut with the reserves is coming up sooner than his European debut. The first official match against SC Eltersdorf is already scheduled for July 27 (7 p.m.). Recently, however, the preseason friendlies have been rocky: Following a 1-4 loss at Wacker Innsbruck and a 0-2 defeat against Legia Warsaw, they suffered a 0-4 loss to the Stuttgart Kickers on Sunday. Internally, however, confidence in Dante remains high.
The Youth League doesn’t start until about six weeks later, between September 8 and 10. The draw for the European Youth Cup is scheduled for August 27.