Dortmund begin training in La Manga
La Manga - Borussia Dortmund have become the latest top-flight side side to embark on their mid-season training camp in preparation for the second half of the 2014/15 Bundesliga season.
'A childhood's dream has come true'
After arriving at the Club Principe Felipe Hotel in La Manga, Spain late on Saturday afternoon, Jürgen Klopp’s players took part in their first training session of their eight-day camp at 10:00 CET on Sunday morning.
Apart from
, away at the African Cup of Nations, Shinji Kagawa and Mitchell Langerak, absent at the AFC Asian Cup and the injured
, the entire first-team squad took part in training in some capacity. Defenders Neven Subotic, Lukasz Piszczek and Sokratis Papastathopoulos all trained separately from the rest of the squad, while Adrian Ramos and Henrikh Mkhitaryan worked on their fitness indoors at the team hotel. Particularly excited to be involved was new signing
. "A childhood dream has come true with this move," effused the former RB Salzburg midfielder. "I'm 24 now and I'm ready to take the next step. BVB's game suits me, I'm in good hands. It's great to play alongside stars like
from whom I can still learn a thing or two."
Reus closing in on full fitness
Reus, for his part, stepped up his recovery from the ankle injury sustained against SC Paderborn 07 in November, which ruled the midfielder out for the rest of the
. "I’ve already been able to take part in a number of training exercises, said the 25-year-old ahead of the flight to Spain. "As of tomorrow, I’ll be able to go into tackles."
Die Schwarz-Gelben
endured a miserable first season-half, collecting only 15 points from their 17 league matches and ending the calendar year
, but Klopp intends to address his team’s shortcomings during their stint in Spain. “We want to use the time available to prepare well for the second half of the season and work on some tactical things,” said the coach.
