Borussia begin derby preparations

Training ahead of Saturday’s derby against 1. FC Köln (15:30 CEST) got underway on Tuesday. Marcus Thuram and Nico Elvedi were absent from training.

In four days time, Borussia will face 1. FC Köln in the first derby of the season (Saturday, 15:30 CEST). Preparations for the game got underway on Tuesday morning, with the players completing a fitness session to start the week.  In the afternoon, Marco Rose’s team got to work on the training pitch at BORUSSIA-PARK. “At the start of a new week’s training, the previous match always plays a part. We already addressed a few things after the home match against Union Berlin. We know what awaits us on Saturday – playing Köln is especially important to our fans,” says Rose. “You usually get the result that your performance deserves, so we have to focus on doing our jobs and performing our best. We worked really hard today, and we have to keep that up through the rest of the week.”

Breel Embolo, who has been gradually eased back into training over the previous few weeks, completed today’s intense first session in its entirety. Keanan Bennetts also took part again for the first time, while Denis Zakaria, László Bénes and Julio Villalba all completed parts of the session. Nico Elvedi and Marcus Thuram were absent from training: “Nico and Marcus have slight illnesses, but we are hopeful that they will be back in time for Saturday’s match. Nico was able to do some running today,” said Rose. Valentino Lazaro (injured calf muscle) and Andreas Poulsen (shoulder operation) remain absent through injury.

Borussia will have three more training sessions ahead of the derby. Die Fohlen will train behind closed doors on Wednesday, with further training scheduled for Thursday (10:00 CEST) and Friday (15:00 CEST).