Borussia begin preparations for the second half of the season

The Foals started preparing for the second half of 2021/22 on Wednesday afternoon.

Shortly after the 1-1 draw at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on 18th December, the Foals began their winter break. The players had around one and a half weeks to recharge their batteries and to see their families over the festive period. After returning on Tuesday to complete the now obligatory Corona tests, the players trained on Wednesday afternoon. “The short break did us all good. We were able to switch off a little bit. I’m now happy to be back. The training pitch was a bit slippy due to the rain, but it’s nice to be playing football again,” said defender Nico Elvedi.

The players completed a session lasting around 90 minutes. Head coach Adi Hütter split up the squad into three teams on a small pitch. “We want to put some things right after the first half of the season. We will set ourselves big targets and be ready for the first game, even if playing Bayern is always a difficult one. I’m confident and looking forward to our upcoming challenges,” added Elvedi.

Ramy Bensebaini wasn’t part of the first training session, with the left-back named in Algeria’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations. The tournament, which was originally due to be held in 2021, will take place in Cameroon from 9th January to 6th February 2022. The defending champions began their preparations on Monday in Doha, Qatar. Denis Zakaria and Keanan Bennetts were both absent too on Wednesday. The duo have tested positive for Covid-19 and are currently in quarantine. Marcus Thuram, Mamadou Doucouré, Manu Koné and Joe Scally are still waiting for their test results, so they also didn’t train.

Beyer trains individually, Hofmann begins his rehabilitation programme

Jordan Beyer, who extended his contract at the club until 2026 on Wednesday, had tested positive for Corona during the winter break and had been in quarantine. The 21-year-old defender has since tested negative and was able to complete an individual session at BORUSSIA-PARK. Jonas Hofmann will begin his rehabilitation programme this week following his knee operation in mid-December.

The remaining Foals will train twice on Thursday (10:30 and 15:30) and once on Friday, before enjoying a day off on 1st January. The first session of 2022 will then be at 10:30 on Sunday, 2nd January.