Ena's diary - how our training camp in Spain went

Goalkeeper Ena Mahmutovic has written a diary for you from the FC Bayern Women training camp. In her entries, she takes you behind the scenes and gives you her personal account of the days in Spain.

Day 1: Alarm at 5am!

We set off for the training camp in Spain early this morning. I had to get up at 5am because I picked up a few of the players from our team. From the FC Bayern Campus, we left for Munich airport on the bus at 6:30. I read “Never Finished” by David Goggins during the flight to Seville. I find his story so impressive.

We landed to blue sky and warm weather and we all held our faces up to the sun at the airport. After checking in at the hotel, we had lunch shortly after and then a meeting, in which the procedure for the training camp was discussed. I really like it here, we’re staying in a nice hotel. With these great conditions, we then got started straight away with an activation and a first training session.

In today’s goalkeeper training, we did footwork and basics with our goalkeeping coach Neto and then we played a nine-a-side game in training, with shots. That put us to the test straight away, which I always massively enjoy.

To finish, I played American football with a few team-mates. It makes a cool change to try out another kind of sport for once. I was then allowed to drive up to the hotel in a golf cart. Now it's off to bed at 9pm because I'm very tired from the journey and the training. I'm already looking forward to the next few days!

Day 2: Team event with raw eggs

After the long day yesterday, I had a really good, long sleep. After breakfast with my roommate Momoko, it was again straight down to work: getting ready for training, a short meeting and then into the gym for activation with our fitness coach.

On the pitch, the goalkeepers worked on one-v-ones and decision making, which fitted with the later match situation drills. After that there was a small tournament: five v five, four teams. We won every game and were the tournament winners! It was good training content to get us back into it after the long break.

To recover, we went to the ice bath, then for lunch and then we took a break in the sun to top up on vitamin D. In the afternoon we did strength training and then played volleyball, which was a great way to take our mind off things.

In the evening, we had a team event where we realised how well we work as a team and what our strengths are. In the centre circle, we first threw tennis balls at each other and later raw eggs. That sounds strange at first, but what was really exciting was that we were much more focussed and successful with the eggs – it showed us that we can really deliver under pressure.

To finish the day, we took the golf cart up to the hotel complex, had a relaxed dinner and a group meeting about our objectives. Now it’s time to put on the recovery boots and go to sleep.

Day 3: 90 minutes of Facetime

Today I had a full 10 hours’ sleep – that was really needed too after yesterday’s strength training. On top of that, we’ve got two sessions on the programme today. After breakfast we went promptly into goalkeeper training, where we worked on crosses, catching and positioning. Afterwards we had an intensive 11-a-side game, in which the level was very high. The coaches were pleased with our performance too. After training, a few players took shots at my goal. It’s just fun to save a few shots or see good finishes. Then it was back into the ice bath – that’s always a challenge at the start but when you’re in it for a while, you get used to it.

We had a break at midday, during which I Facetimed my best friend. It was great to finally have a long chat again.

In the afternoon session, we did position-specific training. The intensity was a bit gentler in goalkeeper training today: crossing, positioning and footwork. Then there were individual units in team training – finishing, crossing and group work for attack and defence.

In the evening at the hotel, we had a meeting after dinner in which we compared our statistics from the first half of the season with other European teams. This was followed by another meeting in groups in which we analysed our upcoming friendly opponents, BSC YB Women. We focussed on their set pieces and strategies for defending them.

After a long day, I was pretty knackered and immediately went to bed.

Day 4: A nice surprise

My legs were certainly heavy today from the last few days, but that’s normal at a training camp.

Goalkeeper training focussed on positional play and shifting into different positions. In team training, the attack practised finishing and we in defence tried to prevent goals. The teamwork at the back was really fun, especially in 11 versus 11. A short but effective session. I had an ice bath again – despite the rain, it was necessary to relax my heavy legs.

After lunch and a short break, in which I analysed clips from training, we were surprised with an excursion: we headed to the go-kart track for a really cool team event. I love go-karting because it reminds me of Formula 1, which I keenly follow. After the qualifying and the positioning race, I got to the final. I started in ninth place, managed to make up a few places but then had two crashes – one with Clara, our assistant coach, and one with Finn, one of our analysts. I finished ninth out of 37, but fun was the most important thing. Congratulations to our fitness coach Moritz, who ran a strong race and deserved to win!

After the victory ceremony and dinner, we went to our rooms. I chilled out with a few team-mates and now it’s off to bed.

Day 5: Set pieces and match analysis

Today I actually woke up with sore muscles in my forearms from the go-karting, but apart from that I'm feeling great. So we went into the final training session before our friendly match against Young Boys tomorrow feeling motivated. In goalkeeper training, we practised push-offs, low and high. In team training, we had a short game in which we practised build-up play and pressing situations.

After training, we went up to the showers and our group continued to develop the attacking set pieces from the previous day. We came up with cool variations for corners and free kicks, new tricks and ideas that were a lot of fun. During the lunch break, I had time for analysis with our goalkeeping coach Neto and analyst Finn.

At 5pm, we had a meeting where each group presented their preparations – from set pieces and transition play to build-up play and goal kicks. It was cool to present our own ideas to the team and see what the others had come up with. Afterwards, the coaches held the pre-match meeting and we were given the line-up for the first and second half of the friendly.

After dinner we continued sitting together for a while, and I went for a walk with a few of the girls – a short walk after eating is good. Now it’s about getting a good sleep before the friendly tomorrow.

Day 6: Matchday!

It’s matchday! That means after breakfast, there was a short activation session on the pitch. The goalkeeper training routine included crosses and early crosses. In team training, we practised set pieces together and then there was a shootout. Unfortunately, the old team won – they did well.

We had our match meal at 11:45 and a meeting at 13:50, where we again went through set pieces and our gameplan.

I played the first half of the friendly against YB Women. We won 7-0 and it was a really good game. I thought it was a strong team performance and our head coach Alex was also pleased. We were all delighted that Mitch made her debut and Mala and Franzi celebrated their comebacks.

After dinner, I caught up with Lisa Josten, a player from Bern. I played with her at Duisburg. We went for a walk and chatted with each other because we haven’t seen each other for a long time.

Before going to bed, I watched our men’s Champions League game, which unfortunately didn’t go as hoped!

After a short regeneration session on Thursday morning, it was straight to the airport and back to Munich. I hope you’ve enjoyed my diary insights – in any case I’ve had a really good training camp.

Magdalena Eriksson takes you behind the scenes of a day at training camp in her VLOG: