News
New year kicks off with performance diagnostics for BVB first team
The players returned to work 11 days after their final match of the 2024 calendar year, a 3-1 away victory against VfL Wolfsburg on the fourth Sunday of Advent. On Thursday, they were examined by doctors and physiotherapists and had to perform various exercises under the guidance of the athletics coaches. The players went through a programme consisting of strength, balance and endurance tests in pairs. Young players Cole Campbell and Kjell Wätjen were the first to kick off the new year in Dortmund-Brackel in the morning, with the other first-team players following suit. Long-term injury absentee Niklas Süle did not take part in the performance diagnostics.
After the players had worked up a sweat in the gym, they got back out onto the training pitch and returned to work with a ball at their feet. The goalkeepers were the first to complete a session in temperatures of approximately four degrees.
The first competitive match of the new year will take place in just eight days' time: On 10 January (20:30 CET), the Black & Yellows will kick off Bundesliga Matchday 16 with a home game against German champions Bayer Leverkusen. BVB are foregoing a winter training camp this year and are instead preparing for the second half of the season at home. (cr)