On Wednesday the Bayern pros sprinted up the hill at the Säbener Strasse at full speed, upping the tempo after a day off. The German record champions take on fourth-division Carl Zeiss Jena in the DFB Cup first round on Friday at 20.45 CET, and they are determined to leave nothing to chance against the rank outsiders.
"We'll take a look at their style of play, what they do and what we have to do," Philipp Lahm reported on Wednesday. "Apart from that we should focus on our strengths and stick to our play. There's enough to do." Which is why head coach Carlo Ancelotti let his troops fine-tune their passing game and combinations after the sprints. The Bavarians have yet to absorb the changes to their tactics, according to Lahm: "We still need a bit of time. You could see that in the first half against Dortmund."
Renato Sanches, Douglas Costa, Arjen Robben, Holger Badstuber and Jérôme Boateng continued their rehab training on Wednesday, whereas Xabi Alonso and Thiago took a breather and also exercised individually. Arturo Vidal, who sustained a knock in the Supercup victory over Dortmund, resumed the squad programme as planned. However, Wednesday's session ended with bad news as Kingsley Coman had to be taken off with a knock. The Frenchman will be sidelined for an indefinite period due to a capsular ligament damage to his left ankle (see report).
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