On their fourth day in Kirchberg, Austria, the BVB U23s continued to work hard in preparation for their opening game of the season away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on 25 July. During the training camp, coach Christian Preußer's squad is being bolstered by several guest and U19 players to make up for the loss of several U23s to the senior squad.

Vasco Walz and Farouk Cisse, two freshly crowned U19 champions who have been with the Black & Yellows for several years, are among the reinforcements. They are joined by centre-back Albin Thaqi, who previously played for BVB. He departed the U23s for Fortuna Cologne in January but is now keeping himself fit at BVB and is hoping to put himself in the shop window during the friendlies. The same goes for wing forward Rodney Elongo-Yombo, who scored nine goals in 36 appearances for the SpVgg Greuther Fürth U23s last term. And then there is the 21-year-old attacker Jayden Bennetts, who previously played for the Watford U23s, the Paderborn U23s and the VfB Stuttgart reserves. The 20-year-old midfielder Adam Oudjani last played for RC Lens in France, where his grandfather Ahmed Oudjani has enjoyed legendary status since the 1960s.

During the sessions in Kirchberg, coach Preußer has recently placed a lot of emphasis on interplay and tactics, while there has been a lot of focus on fitness as well. "We've achieved a good mix of intensity on the pitch and activities off it," Preußer explained.

And there have been plenty of fun and games. Niklas Dams, Michael Eberwein and Valentino Vermeulen won the traditional football tennis tournament on Monday, with Dams and Eberwein adding their names to the list of activity winners again in the evening as they triumphed in the go-karting event along with Marco Hober and captain Franz Pfanne. Striker Timo Bornemann also demonstrated his speed off the pitch: he was the fastest on the 420-metre track.

On Wednesday, the team will have their first opportunity to show what they have worked on in training. The Black & Yellows will visit Wacker Burghausen at 18:30 CET. Before that, there will be another training session in Brixen at 10:00 CET. The boys will then be given a day off on Friday.