It was a controversial decision at the time, as Bayern were dominating German football and Lattek was an unattractive name that hadn't even previously coached a club side.

However, Lattek went on to silence all the doubters by leading Bayern to a historic three consecutive league triumphs, which was a first in German football.

This was just the sign of greater things to come, as Lattek further lead the Bavarians to a legendary European Champions Cup victory in 1974. The final saw Bayern beat Atlético Madrid, thus becoming the first ever German club to conquer Europe.

In addition to his silverware achievements, Lattek was also responsible for the integration of talented youngsters Paul Breitner and Uli Hoeneß into the side.

However, . A poor start to the 1974–75 domestic season saw Lattek's tenure come to an abrupt end.

We will now be looking at the rest of his managerial career, as this setback was only the beginning of what ended up being one of the greatest Managerial runs in football.

From Munich to Gladbach

Lattek took charge of Borussia Mönchengladbach from the 1975–76 season and was a part of the club till 1979.  He went on to achieve major success at Gladbach as well, leading the German side to two German League titles and European success in the form of the UEFA Cup. He was on course to achieving a third league title with the club, but were ultimately beaten by 1. FC Köln in the title race.

The year of 1977 was a heart breaking one for both Lattek and Gladbach, as they were on course to achieve their greatest achievement. They managed to reach that year's European Cup final, but ended up losing 3-1 to Liverpool. He eventually left the club after 2 more years.

Dortmund comes calling

Borussia Dortmund became Lattek's third managerial club in the Bundesliga, as he joined the club in 1979. His time at the club was however, an underwhelming one. Lattek lacked the quality of star players he had at Bayern and Gladbach with Dortmund, and the club's board didn't have the adequate resources to help the manager succeed. To make matters worse, his 15 year-old son was suffering from leukaemia at the time. All these factors led to an immediate exit from the club after just 2 years in 1981.

A trip to Spain

It was with Barcelona that Lattek proved his critics that he can achieve success even outside of Germany. He led the Blaugrana to the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1982, defeating Standard Liège 2–1 in the final. This feat also made him the only coach to lead three clubs to three different major European trophies.

It was under Lattek that Barcelona signed Diego Maradona for a then record fee, but the club's failure to win silverware after this signing led to Lattek eventually being shown the door. The German manager left after the 1982–83 season concluded.

A series of homecomings and retirement

Lattek returned to Bayern in 1983, 8 years after his first run. His homecoming stint lasted for 4 years, during which he added another league championship hat-trick with the club and two more national cups.

The only heartbreak of his second tenure was in 1987, as Lattek failed to repeat history as his Bayern side lost the European Cup final to FC Porto. After his homecoming at Bayern, Lattek took managerial jobs at 1. FC Köln and Schalke 04.

His final job as a manager was a homecoming to Dortmund, as the club were finding themselves in a shocking relegation battle. Dortmund were just one point above the relegation zone with five matches left to play.

Lattek cast his magic for one last time, as Dortmund only suffered one defeat ( against Bayern) in their final 5 games. Thus, he came back and saved his old club. Lattek also set the base for his successor Matthias Sammer to achieve greater things.

That was the end of Lattek's time as a football manager, as he retired in 2000 as one of the best in the business.