The stars are back from China – or maybe not? The FCB players had a real sense of déjà vu on Saturday, with temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and stifling, oppressive heat. The only real difference to the five days spent in the Far East was the occasional appearance of sunshine. So it was that Saturday morning’s training session at the Säbener Strasse was another punishing, sweat-inducing affair.
However, this is how it has to be, as there are now only just over three weeks until Munich face their first competitive fixture of the new season, the DFB Cup trip to Regensburg. Fortunately, Saturday marked the first time since last season when the entire squad came together for a workout, as captains Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger resumed the team programme, both completing the workout with no difficulty. The only players missing were injury victims David Alaba (stress fracture of the left foot) and Rafinha (ligament).
Run in the woods on Sunday
A crowd numbering several hundred saw the players emerge onto the practice ground at around a quarter to midday. Following the customary warm-up, Heynckes had his men focus on passing and positioning, game–related situations, and short-sided matches using full or reduced size goal frames. The intense and productive session officially ended after around 90 minutes, although autograph signing and posing for snaps took up plenty of time after that as well.
Some of the players stayed out on the practice ground for a spot of overtime. Schweinsteiger joined fitness coach Thomas Wilhelmi to work on coordination and strength. Lahm, Mario Gomez, Claudio Pizarro and Diego Contento joined fitness specialist Andreas Kornmayer for a 20 minutes jog around the site. And youngsters Mitchell Weiser and Emre Can reported to assistant coach Hermann Gerland to work on their heading skills.
The squad returns to headquarters on Sunday for two sessions. The morning workout at 10 am takes place on the practice ground as normal, but the afternoon has been set aside for a run in nearby Perlacher Forest.
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