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Preparations for Leverkusen ramp up in Monday's training

With four players absent, BVB coach Nuri Sahin led his team through the debut session of the first full week of training in the new year on Monday morning. Borussia Dortmund are set to face reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK on Friday night. 

Last Thursday, the players returned to the training ground after a short winter holiday and, following performance diagnostics in small groups, had the ball at their feet before the first team training session was scheduled for Friday. With the temperature hovering around 10 degrees, Monday's weather was warmer than last week, albeit with wind and rain as the first team took to the pitch in Dortmund-Brackel.

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Waldemar Anton and Almugera Kabar were absent due to illness, as was the long-term absentee Niklas Süle. Marcel Sabitzer trained individually. Yannik Lührs, Jordi Paulina, Ayman Azhil and goalkeeper Tiago Estevao all joined the squad from the U23s.

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After the warm-up, the focus was on short passing drills. The subsequent game forms in a small area also focused on sharp passes and ball security. Towards the end of the one-hour session, the coaching team reduced the width of the pitch considerably, but still ran an XI versus XI game with Pascal Gross (suspended against Leverkusen) switching between the two teams. The small pitch ensured a high level of intensity as well as quick attacks and high pressing. Assistant coach Lukasz Piszczek slotted in at left-back.

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The BVB pros will undergo a second training session in the afternoon. (cr)

Relive the training session

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