The heavens opened briefly over Säbener Straße on Tuesday morning as the Bayern players made their way out for training. You could say it was an appropriate greeting from above for a Munich player returning to the pitch for the first time in a while. In fact, it has been a month since Corentin Tolisso stood in the pouring Moscow rain celebrating the greatest success of his career after France had beaten Croatia in the World Cup final. Now he’s back home at FC Bayern.
“First I’ll meet the new coaches and players, but of course I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces again,” said the Frenchman on his return to Munich. Hs excitement was justified as both new and old colleagues alike warmly greeted the newly crowned world champion with a cake decorated with the World Cup trophy.
It was definitely welcome sustenance for Tolisso as the Frenchman completed passing and ball drills under the auspices of coach Niko Kovac in the team’s first full training session since winning the Supercup against Eintracht Frankfurt. Following an individual session on Sunday, the midfielder had already completed the obligatory performance tests.
Hamburg friendly too early for Tolisso
However, the 24-year-old will have to remain patient for his first taste of club football this season. Although the team will head off to Hamburg for their friendly on Wednesday evening, Tolisso will remain in Munich training. The midfielder still has some catching up to do on his fitness if he wants to be perfectly equipped for the new season. “Like everyone, I want to win everything every year. Above all I want to win the cup this season, but with this great squad we’re capable of winning everything. That’s my aim,” Tolisso declared.
While the morning session gave Kovac the chance to greet Tolisso for the first time, there were still a number of Bayern players missing from the smaller group. One of those was David Alaba, who suffered a bruised knee in the Supercup, as well as Robert Lewandowski, who took part in a regenerative exercise inside the performance centre because of a slight thigh problem. James and Serge Gnabry were out on the pitch performing running drills.
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