Bundesliga clubs back in training - updates
Cologne - With just a matter of weeks remaining until Bundesliga Matchday 18 kicks off, the majority of the top-flight clubs have returned to training this week to shake off the excesses of a well-earned festive break.
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bundesliga.com brings you all the latest news and images from around the globe as the league of the world champions gears up for the Rückrunde. Don't forget to check out where your side will stage their winter training camp with our handy club-by-club overview.
Wednesday 14 January
Kruse takes gold
Even when the Borussia Mönchengladbach players are afforded downtime in Belek, Turkey, it seems they find a way to ensure they're still pushing themselves to the limit as we see here with Max Kruse taking on club physic Dirk Müller in a competitive swim.
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Bayer back in action
Bayer Leverkusen are at it again in Orlando:
Bayern's afternoon off
Thomas Müller, Pepe Reina and Bastian Schweinsteiger used their training-free afternoon in Doha to play a bit of golf. "
Even on a free afternoon it's all about playing balls
," reads this tweet from Müller.
Dream debut
Xizhe Zhang could hardly have wished for a better debut in Wolfsburg colours, the 23-year-old slotted in seamlessly during the second half as the Wolves landed a comprehensive 4-1 win away to Ajax Cape Town.
Hannover held
The 96ers have been held to a goalless draw by Turkish outfit Istanbul Basaksehir.
Coveted trophies
Here's what Bundesliga sides Leverkusen and Köln will be competing for when they tackle Brazil's Fluminese and Corinthians in the Florida Cup on 17 January. Both a tournament and a national champion will be crowned at the event.
Bremen back home
The Green-Whites have landed safely on home soil after their nine-day stint in Belek, Turkey.
Seems like the attacking midfielder is already making quite an impression on his debut appearance for the Lower Saxony side. "
59 minutes played: Vieirinha's assist finds Xizhe Zhang in the box, but Ajax's keeper denies the Chinese
," says the tweet below.
Zhang's debut
Chinese superstar Xizhe Zhang is enjoying his first few minutes in VfL Wolfsburg colours after coming on as a half-time substitute against Ajax Cape Town.
Wolfsburg in front
The Wolves, meanwhile, lead hosts Ajax Cape Town by 2-1 at half-time courtesy of goals from Daniel Caligiuri and Ivica Olic.
Brazilian get-together
Leverkusen left-back Wendell (l.) bumped into the Bundesliga side's former midfield star Renato Augusto, now contracted with Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, in Orlando. They will be meeting again when their sides go head-to-head in the Florida Cup on 17 January.
Work done
Hamburger SV stars Julian Green (r.) and Artjom Rudnevs seem to be having a good time at their training camp in Doha:
After the Training ☀️⚽️ #workhard
A photo posted by Julian Wesley Green (@jgreen_37) on Jan 14, 2015 at 9:02am PST
Wolves up against South Africa's Ajax
VfL Wolfsburg will be kicking off their first friendly of 2015 in just a few moments as they lock horns with South African first-division side Ajax Cape Town.
Leverkusen training
Bayer Leverkusen have just sent out this Vine showing them doing some passing exercise at their Orlando training camp:
First training session
Matija Nastasic has taken to the training pitch in Doha after completing his loan move to Schalke earlier in the day.
New arrival
Matija Nastasic has completed his loan move to FC Schalke 04 after passing his medical in Doha on Wednesday. The Serbian international will remain at the Veltins Arena until the end of the season.
The end is nigh
Schalke are also coming to the end of their training camp in Doha. The Royal Blues are due to face Al-Merrikh SC on Thursday before flying back to Gelsenkirchen a day later.
'Tymo' Reunion
FC Bayern's players pose for a picture with former midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.
Returning home
Bremen are heading back to Germany after spending the last week and a bit in Belek.
Change of pace
It's almost impossible to get bored in Orlando... The Köln players have been enjoying some of the local theme parks.
Eagle-eyed
Huub Stevens watches on intently as his Stuttgart players strut their stuff in training.
Pretoria test
Germany international Kevin Volland posted this picture on Instagram of himself in action for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim against Pretoria University FC on Tuesday.
Spiel gegen Pretoria #Trainingslager #Südafrika #TSG ✌️
A photo posted by Kevin Volland (@vollandkevin) on Jan 14, 2015 at 2:29am PST
Biding their time
Stuttgart are one of the few Bundesliga sides yet to embark on their winter training camp. The Swabians are due to arrive in Lagos, Portugal on Friday.
'Warming up...'
Surprise visitor
FC Zenit veteran Anatoliy Tymoshchuk has visited his former FC Bayern colleagues at their training camp in Doha.
Benaglio returns
He missed out on Tuesday with a bug, but Wolfsburg keeper Diego Benaglio returned to training on Wednesday as the Wolves step up their mid-season preparations in Cape Town.
Blowing away the cobwebs
Bremen are up bright and early after beating Mönchengladbach 3-2 in a friendly in Belek on Tuesday.
New kid on the block
New Schalke recruit Matija Nastasic has finally made it out to the Royal Blues' winter training camp in Doha after agreeing a loan deal from Manchester City FC...
Tuesday 13 January
Happy returnee
Bayern and Germany centre-back Holger Badstuber, meanwhile, seemed a happy man indeed after enjoying his comeback from injury against the Qatar Stars today (see tweets earlier). "Unbelievable to be back on the pitch," says his tweet:
Guardiola happy
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola (l.) had few complaints after his side's victory against the Qatar Stars:
Joyful evening for Bayern
that the Bundesliga leaders would be permitted to increase their capacity for home games at the Allianz Arena to 75,000, Thomas Müller (r.) and Co. cruised to a comfortable 4-1 win against a Qatar XI in their first friendly of 2015. Mitchell Weiser (l.) was at the double against the Qatar Stars, with Franck Ribery and Claudio Pizarro scoring the other two goals for Pep Guardiola's charges.
Meanwhile, centre-back Holger Badstuber enjoyed his first minutes on the field since suffering a thigh injury against VfB Stuttgart in September.
Royal Blue get-together
Schalke's fans got to rub shoulders with their heroes tonight:
Eagles landed
Eintracht Frankfurt, meanwhile, have arrived in Abu Dhabi for their nine-day mid-season training camp.
Bayern in front at half-time
Bayern up against Qatar Stars
The Bundesliga leaders will be kicking off their 2015 shortly against a Qatar dream XI boasting some of their greatest stars, with Bayern boss Pep Guardiola fielding a strong side for the At Lekhwiya Stadium encounter.
Paderborn arrive
The Bundesliga newcomers are the fourth top-flight club to arrive in Turkey ahead of their mid-season preparations.
BVB at full throttle
All-Bundesliga clash in Belek
Bremen take on Borussia Mönchengladbach later this afternoon...
Abu Dhabi-bound
Eintracht Frankfurt also embark on their mid-season training camp today. The Eagles are on their way to Abu Dhabi.
All smiles
Mainz are one of three clubs setting off for their winter training camp on Tuesday.
Back to normality
Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben are returning to Doha after yesterday's
.
Sudanese test
Kevin-Prine Boateng's Schalke will face Sudan outfit Al-Merrikh SC on 15 January before returning to Gelsenkirchen at the end of the week.
HSV in Dubai
Hamburger SV only landed in the UAE on Sunday, but have wasted little time familiarising themselves with their news surroundings...
"The first on the training pitch: Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Ronny Marcos take part in an individual session"
Turkish drizzle
Hannover 96's players are being put through their paces in Belek, where the weather has taken a turn for the worse...
Sudanese test
Kevin-Prine Boateng's Schalke will face Sudan outfit Al-Merrikh SC on 15 January before returning to Gelsenkirchen at the end of the week.
Back in action
Bundesliga clubs are continuing their preparations ahead of the season restart, with league leaders FC Bayern set to take on a Qatari All Star XI later today...
Monday 12 January
Jedaj heading back home
Tin Jedvaj has made his way back to Germany to recover from a thigh injury picked up in training yesterday (see earlier tweet).
Alaba's return
Good news for Bayern München man David Alaba, who has trained with the record champions for the first time since injuring his knee in the Champions League home win against AS Roma in November.
Mönchengladbach's birthday boy
Weidenfeller back in the thick of things
Looks like Roman Weidenfeller is giving his all to win back his place between the Dortmund sticks:
Jedvaj watching from the cart
Tin Jedvaj was unable to train with his Bayer 04 colleagues today after picking up a thigh injury in yesterday's training session. The 19-year-old will leave the Rhineland club's Florida training camp later today to travel back to Leverkusen where he will continue his recovery.
Köln up and running
The Billy Goats have just kicked off day four of their winter training camp in Orlando, where striker Simon Zoller and Co. are flying the flag for the German top flight as part of the Bundesliga World Tour.
Wir starten in den 4.Tag! #Florida #Orlando #Floridacup
Ein von Zolli23 (@zolli23) gepostetes Foto am Jan 12, 2015 at 5:53 PST
Dortmund resume training
There's no Manuel Neuer or Arjen Robben among the Bayern players heading to training. They've left for Zurich and the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2014 ceremony - head
!
VfL Wolfsburg have landed in Cape Town. The Wolves had been due to fly out on Saturday, but delayed their departure following the tragic death of Junior Malanda.
Back to work
Hamburger SV have been taking part in their first training since arriving in Dubai earlier on Monday. Pierre-Michel Lasogga has already been testing out the facilities at the Red Shorts' training complex...
Rain stops play
Werder Bremen's afternoon training session has been brought forward due to a weather warning, but the heavens seem to have opened already in Belek...
'I'll be around for a while yet'
Good news for all concerned with FC Bayern: Bastian Schweinsteiger says he 'feels great' after recovering from a long-term ankle problem which restricted the 30-year-old to just six league appearances in the first half of the campaign. The Germany skipper scored his first goal of the season in Bayern's final match of the
Hinrunde
- a 2-1 victory at 1. FSV Mainz 05.
Worth the wait
Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic is glad to be back training with the rest of his team-mates after recovering from illness.
No holding back
Werder Bremen youngsters Marnon Busch and Melvyn Lorenzen show no sign of shirking any tackles during Sunday's training session in Belek, Turkey.
Ringen um jeden Ball! #busch #lorenzen #WerderinBelek #werder #bremen
Ein von SV Werder Bremen (@werderbremen) gepostetes Foto am Jan 12, 2015 at 2:57 PST
Quiz time!
Just how well do you know FC Bayern München? If you know whose legs these are, maybe too well...
Concern for Aogo
Schalke will hope the thigh injury suffered by Dennis Aogo this morning is not not too serious after the German international was withdrawn from training:
Raffael returns
The Brazilian had been training individually after a muscle injury he sustained in December, but he is on his way back:
It's a hard life being a footballer, isn't it?
Sunday 11 January
Happy Hannoveraners
Hannover 96 stars Marcelo (l.) and Joselu appeared in positive spirits at the end of the first day of the Reds' Belek training camp.
Dortmund gearing up
Borussia Dortmund have announced they will be training twice tomorrow on day two of their La Manga training camp, their early session in the south of Spain beginning at 10:00 CET/9:00 GMT and the afternoon get-together at 16:00 CET/15:00 GMT.
Müllered
Thomas Müller shows us how to practise his bizarre set-piece ruse as seen in Germany's World Cup last-16 tie against Algeria last summer:
Hannover getting into gear
The 96ers had to do without captain Lars Stindl (foot injury) as Tayfun Korkut's men kicked off their mid-season preparations in Belek today, hours after arriving for their ten-day stay in Turkey's south-west.
Training camps are fun!
There's no doubt this posse of Gladbach players enjoyed their training session in Belek, Turkey this morning:
Badstuber on the way back
After playing just three league games in a little over two years, Holger Badstuber is hoping to get back to his best over the winter:
FC Bayern are the other side in Qatar preparing for the Bundesliga's resumption this month, and it seems they're enjoying putting in some hard graft, despite the unusually cold temperatures in the Middle East on Sunday:
Schalke continue to train hard over in Doha, which has been gripped by some ice-cold winds today. Thankfully for their mascot, he appears to have some time off:
Return of an old friend
In Belek, a familiar face to Bundesliga fans dropped by to say hello to some of his former colleagues. Diego, formally of Wolfsburg and Bremen, winning the DFB Cup with the latter in 2009, made a visit to Werder's team hotel and was greeted with a predictably warm welcome:
Poetry in motion...
@ciroejessicaimmobile beim Training heute Morgen // Ciro Immobile in training this morning
Ein von Borussia Dortmund (@bvb09) gepostetes Video am Jan 11, 2015 at 1:39 PST
Conditions couldn't be better for Jürgen Klopp's men this morning:
Getting down to it
After arriving in La Manga, their winter resort, yesterday evening, Dortmund have a day of hard work in front of them as they prepare for the return of league football and a trip to Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Matchday 18.
Saturday 10 January
Tragic loss
The Bundesliga and VfL Wolfsburg are mourning the passing of Belgian international
who has died after being involved in a fatal car crash on Saturday afternoon. As a result the Wolves have decided to call off today's departure to South Africa as part of their mid-season preparations for the time being.
Cooling off
The Leverkusen players take a well-earned ice bath after training...
Say cheese!
Neven Subotic posted this picture of himself on the plane to Murcia. Roman Weidenfeller appears to be doing something similar in the background...
#trainingslager #spanien w/ @zlajoo33
Ein von Neven Subotic (@subotic4) gepostetes Foto am Jan 10, 2015 at 4:42 PST
Touchdown!
Borussia Dortmund have landed in Spain ahead of their training camp in La Manga.
Gelandet! // Just landed in Murcia! #bvb #dortmund #borussiadortmund #lamanga15 #hyperlapse
Ein von Borussia Dortmund (@bvb09) gepostetes Video am Jan 10, 2015 at 7:39 PST
Meanwhile, in Doha...
Rise and shine!
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