"Keep going! Press! Super, super!" – Carlo Ancelotti was pleased with what he saw at training on Tuesday morning. Although the mid-season break is over, the Italian and his coaching staff still pushed his plyers hard so that the Bayern stars would sweat a little in the frosting, sub-zero temperatures.
Some players were throwing layers away even after the first drill, but Thomas Müller and co. have fun working with higher intensity. “When you step out into these temperatures, you just want to move about,” said the forward in the day’s FCBayern.tv News.
Whilst it was about one-on-ones on the main pitch, there was good news from the neighbouring pitch, where Thiago was back out for the first time since his injury. The Spaniard was running and practising with the ball to show he was on the right path back to full fitness.
And he wants to return to the team as quickly as possible. Bayern’s no6 was constantly looking over at his teammates, who were celebrating every good play. Flicks followed step-overs as players looked to get past their opponents. Ancelotti was encouraging his players, as well as providing the odd bit of advice.
Hard fight
The noise level rose even further towards the and as the final play was met with a line of defenders at close quarters. “Behind! Left! Shoot!" could be heard around Säbener Straße. Even though it was only a training match, it was clear that nobody wanted to lose. Goals were celebrated and the loss of possession greeted frustration. It was end-to-end stuff of the highest speed, and in the end it was the team of David Alaba, Franck Ribery and Javi Martinez who celebrated a narrow victory.
“Everyone is always eager in training matches. It was very tight again today. I think there was just one goal in it in the end. The fun is there and now we’re looking forward to the weekend,” summarised Müller. The preparations for the game in Bremen (Saturday at 15:30CET, live via our ticker and webradio) are well and truly underway, and even the cold weather in Munich can’t ruin the mood in the FC Bayern camp.