By John O'Donnell

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's finance minister has underscored to Italy's Treasury his concerns over any hostile takeover of Commerzbank by Italy's UniCredit in recent days, according to two people familiar with the matter, in a wider bid by Berlin to halt a hostile takeover.

Lindner outlined his position directly to Italy's Treasury, in tandem with Germany's chancellor Olaf Scholz's public criticism this week, as they sought to put the brakes on a takeover of a bank central to financing the country's Mittelstand, the medium-sized firms that form the backbone of the economy.

(Reporting by John O'Donnell; Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi and Tom Sims)