Zakaria and Thuram back in training

Borussia began their preparations for Saturday’s (15:30 CET) home game against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Wednesday. Denis Zakaria and Marcus Thuram were both back in training.

Head coach Marco Rose led a training session on Wednesday afternoon at the training ground. The session, which lasted almost two hours, focused on a 10v10 game. Denis Zakaria and Marcus Thuram were back involved after missing the last game away to VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. “It’s looking good for the pair of them. They didn’t complete the whole session – we gave them a little rest towards the end,” said Rose. “If the week carries on like it’s started for them, we can be confident of having them involved for the Mainz game.”

Tomorrow’s session will involve some shooting drills before the final training session on Friday before the game. “This week is quite short,” commented Rose. “I think Saturday’s game will be an intense game. Mainz have worked really hard at the back recently and picked up some confidence over the past few games. They are confident on the ball and good on the break. Things have started to come together under the new coach Bo Svensson. We will need to be careful, defend their counters well and find ways of breaking down their 5-3-2. We struggled against similar styles recently against Union and Köln.”