“It was very important for us,” commented Rafinha after the two days off that Jupp Heynckes granted his team following the win against Leverkusen. “We’ve had a strenuous and intense couple of weeks, so we earned the days off,” continued the 32 year-old. On Tuesday morning, the Brazilian and his colleagues were back on the training pitch as preparations for Sunday’s home match against Werder Bremen got under way.

“We’re all back now and ready for the second half of the season,” said the enthusiastic full-back. The first session of the week lasted a little over 90 minutes but there was no Mats Hummels, who sat out due to illness. In between passing drills and game scenarios, Heynckes continued to fine-tune his side. The 72 year-old has now been in his post for 100 days and Bayern have won 16 out of 17 games during that time.

“He’s like a father to us. We have a lot of respect for him. His whole team are doing a superb job,” said Rafinha, explaining the reason behind the good performances and the unity with the coach, who once again showed the right instinct by giving his players two days off.