FCB back in training for 2012/13 campaign

Xherdan Shaqiri obviously couldn’t wait: more than 24 hours before his first appointment as a Bayern player, the Swiss newcomer dropped by the Säbener Strasse for a tour of the performance centre, and to try on his new training kit. Shaq is fired up and eager for Tuesday’s first training session of the 2012/13 campaign, with boss Jupp Heynckes set to take charge of a 14-strong group from 3 pm onwards.

Fans who attend the public workout will see Shaqiri and three other summer signings, namely Dante, Claudio Pizarro and Tom Starke. Future stars Mitchell Weiser, Lukas Raeder and Patrick Weihrauch will also train with the pros for the first time, when they will be joined by the familiar faces of Daniel van Buyten, Rafinha, Diego Contento, David Alaba, Luiz Gustavo, Emre Can and Maximilian Riedmüller.

Six weeks’ hard labour

In advance of the first competitive fixture of the new term, the Supercup clash with Borussia Dortmund on 12 August, Heynckes has some six weeks to instil the fitness basics and fine-tune his team’s tactics. As always in the close season after a major tournament, the process is not helped by the absence of the players who featured at EURO 2012. These stars are granted a maximum three-week vacation after their teams exit the tournament, and only return to the Säbener Strasse at irregular intervals.

For the first two weeks, Heynckes will supervise his men in Munich, before the party sets out for the annual Trentino training camp on 15 July. This year’s stay in northern Italy is scheduled to last six days. FCB then make a prestige pre-season trip to China from 22 to 27 July.

Bundesliga opener away to Fürth

At the end of a series of warm-up friendly matches, the Supercup encounter with double winners Dortmund takes place at the Allianz Arena on the second Sunday in August. The following weekend, from 17 to 20 August, FCB travel to Jahn Regensburg in the first round of the DFB Cup. The 2012/13 Bundesliga campaign opens for Munich on 25 or 26 August away to promoted Bavarian neighbours Greuther Fürth. Before all that, the diary date which matters is three o’clock on Tuesday.