It was an opportunity that Christian Pulisic couldn't pass up: once the training session at the University of California in Los Angeles had finished, Dortmund's wing wizard squared off with basketball legend Steve Nash.

First the former Phoenix Suns playmaker showed what he could do with a football with a few deft touches, then Pulisic impressed the 44-year-old with some excellent basketball skills. As well as sinking some free throws and three-pointers in the hall, the 19-year-old impressed in a one-on-one with the two-time best player in the American basketball league (2005, 2006).

Exploring Los Angeles

Other players in the BVB contingent used the time after the training session to get to know Los Angeles a bit better. The young trio of Jadon Sancho, Alexander Isak and Sergio Gomez, for example, paid a visit to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where they had their picture taken with the star of Michael Jackson; Julian Weigl went to the famous Warnos Bros. studios; and Maximilian Philipp joined Jeremy Toljan in an hour-long surfing session at Santa Monica beach.

Fan event at the brewery

As evening approached, Marcel Schmelzer, Nuri Sahin, Roman Weidenfeller and BVB ambassador Patrick Owomoyela made their way to the Boomtown Brewery, where over 300 fans had gathered in a relaxing atmosphere to speak with their idols about BVB and collect their autographs. On the evening before his final appearance for BVB, shot-stopper Weidenfeller was loudly hailed for his performances over the course of the past 16 years.

Warming up for the duel with LAFC

On Tuesday morning American time, the 18-man BVB squad underwent a short activation session and will later head to the Banc of California Stadium to play their friendly against the newly-founded Los Angeles FC. LAFC are currently playing their inaugural season in Major League Soccer, but have already caused a stir by rising to second position in the Western Conference table. The most famous faces at LAFC include coach Bob Bradley, who was once the coach of the United States national team, and the former Arsenal and Real Sociedad striker Carlos Vela. Then there's midfielder Benny Feilhaber, who made a handful of Bundesliga appearances for Hamburg.

Friendly at 4 CET on Wednesday: live stream available

The match against Los Angeles FC will be broadcast on Borussia Dortmund's Facebook and YouTube channels from 4:00 CET on Wednesday morning, as well as being available on demand.
Jan-Philip Kirschke