Only the lush green of the perfectly prepared training pitch didn't really fit into the picture. Icy trees and snow-covered meadows in the background, crisp cold temperatures around freezing point and a Bavarian blue and white sky - Säbener Straße looked like a little winter wonderland on Friday morning. More than 2,000 fans wrapped up in thick coats attended FC Bayern's open public training session of the new year to watch head coach Vincent Kompany‘s team at work. And the supporters of the German record champions, who provided a unique backdrop, really got their money's worth.
Kompany put his men through their paces for over 100 minutes in an intensive session. After a warm-up, some passing drills and progression runs, the squad moved on to tactical forms of play. The team, who were in excellent form, thrilled the many supporters during the training session with some very impressive moves. After the session, Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala and Co. made fans' dreams come true. The Bayern stars took time out to fulfil the numerous autograph and selfie requests from their supporters.
Laimer: "Gives us an extra boost"
"It's always something special when so many people come here from all over for an open training session. It gives us an extra boost, just like in the game," said Konrad Laimer after the session on Friday. "Being close to the fans is very important to us. It makes you realise even more how big FC Bayern is," the 27-year-old added.
After Thursday's start, Bayern are continuing to step up their preparations for the second half of the season. After more training sessions at the weekend, the dress rehearsal for the first competitive match (11 January at Borussia Mönchengladbach) is scheduled for Monday, 6 January, when FCB travel to Red Bull Salzburg for a friendly at 18:00 CET. The match will be shown live and exclusively (except in Austria) on FC Bayern TV PLUS (all you need to know to subscribe).
