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Nico Schlotterbeck wants to bring the fans "as much joy as possible"
"The intensity is brutal, that's normal for pre-season. But I didn't expect that it would be so high. It is almost exclusively internationals here. But it's a lot of fun to test yourself against the best," said the new signing from Freiburg, who – along with his fellow internationals – made a slightly later start to pre-season following a three-week holiday. "You don't lose too much in that time, because you go running again a week later. But the lads are slightly further ahead. The coach is now putting his foot on the gas to help us make up the deficit." Only football-wise has he needed two or three days to get back into the swing of it. During his break, the centre-back doesn't touch a ball.
The newcomer has also gotten to know the Black & Yellow fan culture during his time in Bad Ragaz and the public training session back in Dortmund. "It's something special when I see so many fans at every public training session. We try to play as well as possible and bring the fans as much joy as possible."
"High-intensity soccer is the key," said Schlotterbeck, adding: "Whether it's in the Bundesliga, Champions League or DFB-Pokal, you'll be punished if you don't deliver a top performance each time. If you play dominant football, you're very likely to win matches. That's what we've been working on over the past week and a half. And if you're in a good place in terms of conditioning, you can play intense football. Dortmund have always excelled at that."
Christina Reinke