Heynckes was deeply shaken after death of longtime friend Hermann

Former Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes said he was deeply shaken by the death of his long-time friend Peter Hermann.

When he and his wife Iris received the news, they “couldn’t hold back their tears,” he wrote in a guest column for the Kicker sports magazine published on Monday evening.

“The human vocabulary lacks the right words for such situations to express how deeply this loss has affected us,” Heynckes said.

Long-time Bundesliga assistant coach Peter Hermann, who alongside Heynckes helped Bayern win the treble in 2013, died at age 74 on Saturday after a long fight against the neurodegenerative illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Heynckes stayed in touch with Hermann until the very end and had visited him for the last time about three months ago.

“By then, he could barely speak. His son-in-law helped with the conversation because I could hardly understand Peter anymore. On the drive home, with the image of my friend who looked so terribly haggard still fresh in my mind, I cried bitterly in the car. Peter himself never complained about his terrible fate,” Heynckes said.

He described Hermann as his “eternal” assistant coach, who was “always a loyal partner on equal footing.”

“Peter Hermann, who was a first-class second-in-command, is a role model for all young and experienced coaches,” Heynckes wrote.

In a statement, Bayern said Hermann was “an indispensable part of the coaching staff” as assistant of Heynckes when the club won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup 13 years ago.

Hermann was also assistant at clubs including Schalke, SV Hamburg and Borussia Dortmund, but he spent most his career, around three decades, at Bayer Leverkusen.

“The players didn’t just like Peter, they loved him, because he was so empathetic and likeable, because he was so quiet and unassuming, so humble, and simply endearing. Peter was important without taking himself too seriously,” Heynckes said.