Dortmund get back to work
Dortmund - Borussia Dortmund got back to the grind on Tuesday ahead of the second half of the season, which starts with a trip to Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 31 January.
Rest and recuperation
was among the squad being put through their paces by coach Jürgen Klopp, who admitted he was grateful for the break and to have just over three full weeks to work with his players ahead of their trip to the BayArena.
"Many of my players had been unable to train the necessary amount before," said Klopp, whose side was afflicted by injuries during the course of the first season-half, preventing him from being able to rotate his squad throughout a hectic schedule of fixtures. Fortunately for him, the break means
has had time to regain fitness while
, Nuri Sahin and Oliver Kirch have all been able to recharge their batteries. Klopp will also be hoping that
(ankle),
(thigh), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (lack of fitness), Erik Durm, Neven Subotic (both illness) and Adrian Ramos (muscle tear) will be able to commence training within the coming days.
Cup absentees
However, Klopp will have to do without
, who is involved in the Afican Cup of Nations from 17 January to 8 February, and both
and
, who will be representing their countries at the Asian Cup from 9 January to the end of the month. Dortmund are training in their familiar Westphalian surroundings until Friday before jetting off to La Manga for a week-long training camp. This will be the fourth time
die Schwarz-Gelben
have flown to the popular Spanish resort for their mid-season camp.
Back to work again! BVB begin the 2015 footballing year
