The Bayern stars are in Doha, Qatar from 4 to 10 January, toiling away at the traditional mid-season training camp. Read our daily diary direct from the Aspire Zone Foundation and find out more about the players' activities and impressions.
Time in the training camp in Doha is short, and there's less than a week left for the record champions' preparations in the desert emirate. So far, this has meant a lot of work and limited free time for the Bayern pros. "The sessions are very intense," explained Leon Goretzka, who has had little opportunity to take a look around outside the Aspire Zone.
"I wasn't able to do much in the first two days, so I used the time to rest. Apart from that, you might stick on a movie or play some cards," continued the 23-year-old, who has set himself strict goals for the week at the winter camp: "We all want to work well here and get ourselves into good shape physically."
Müller: Running sessions of the "unpleasant variety"
The midfielder already had the opportunity to experience that this morning, when the Reds' training programme included passing exercises and shooting practice. But it was a quite different facet of the training that stuck in team-mate Thomas Müller's mind. The running session under "our esteemed Prof. Dr. Holger Broich" was rather of the "unpleasant variety," the forward explained with his typical mischievous smile.
Müller is sure though that the Bayern coaches will pay heed to the correct training strategy. "There's always more of a sense of proportion in the winter preparation than in the summer, because we have to play again on 18 January," explained the 29-year-old, who in any case has no doubts about the team's fitness. "We're in pretty good shape, you don't lose much during a ten-day holiday."
Tolisso continues to make progress
In the evening, Niko Kovac again gathered his men for the next session. Although Arjen Robben and Corentin Tolisso had to continue training separately to the team as they recover from injury, there was some positive news regarding the Frenchman: For the first time since his cruciate ligament rupture in September, the France player was able to jog on the AlterG treadmill today without any complaints.
It wasn't the only piece of good news for the Bayern players. After five exhausting sessions in less than three days, the team has Monday morning off. Goretzka will then have some time to take a look at the surrounding area.
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