Svetislav Pesic is back at FC Bayern Basketball. The experienced coach is supposed to initiate the turnaround in the Euroleague after the separation from Gordon Herbert.
“Good evening, I’m back,” Svetislav Pesic greeted the media at his official introduction as the new head coach of the FC Bayern basketball team. The 76-year-old Serb is no stranger to Munich: he was on the Bayern sidelines from 2012 to 2016 and led the club to the German championship in 2014. He now succeeds Gordon Herbert.
Separation from Herbert
The amicable separation between Herbert and FC Bayern was the consequence of a sustained series of defeats in the Euroleague. The decisive factor was the clear 77:103 defeat at AS Monaco. As they are currently second to last in the table, Munich hardly has any realistic chances of reaching the playoffs.
“We definitely don’t want to give up on our goals, of course it’s much more difficult now,” explained Bayern President Herbert Hainer when Pesic was introduced.
Experienced Pesic
When he took office, Pesic made it clear that he was not looking for a radical new beginning. “I know exactly how Gordie worked, I know his philosophy. It would be stupid to change much, I would like to use his experience,” said the new coach.
Pesic was most recently the coach of the Serbian national team. In 2023 he led the team to runner-up in the World Cup after losing in the final against Germany, and a year later Serbia won Olympic bronze, also against Germany.
Clear mission: rapid improvement
Pesic’s mission at FC Bayern is clear: “I only have one goal here, to improve as quickly as possible.” A central point of criticism of his predecessor Herbert was that a clear core formation could not be established after the personnel changes in the summer. Pesic first wants to develop a feel for his team: “I have to get to know the players to understand where we actually stand.”
Criticism of the league from son Marko
There were rumblings at FC Bayern recently. Last week, the outgoing managing director and son of Svetislav Pesic, Marko Pesic, criticized the publication of the budget figures of all 18 Bundesliga clubs. It is “pseudo-PR” and the league of world and European champions lacks an overall strategy.
President Herbert Hainer expanded on the point. The published budget figures “were not the actual figures.” The reason for this is that the budget changes during the season were not included. “We are roughly in the middle of the Euroleague with our investment,” clarified Hainer.
Things will get serious for Pesic tomorrow. At 7:30 p.m. Munich will face Hapoel Tel Aviv in their home game in the Euroleague.
Source: BR24Sport on the radio December 22, 2025 – 5:54 p.m
