Brilliant sunshine will welcome Borussia Dortmund when they touch down at San Javier airport, located near the coastal town Murcia, on Saturday afternoon. After the three-hour flight, the team will be picked up by their bus driver Christian Schulz to take them to nearby La Manga del Mar Menor.

The Costa Cálida offers perfect conditions for golfers – and for football team, being neither too warm nor too cold this time of year. The forecast for the next eight days: partly sunny, partly cloudy, with temperatures staying around 16 degrees Celsius.

“We want to use the time available to prepare well for the second half of the season and work on tactical things,” said BVB coach Jürgen Klopp on Saturday.  Following a training session, a team lunch and a room draw (with e.g. Kevin Kampl and Kevin Grosskreutz sharing one), the team left for the Dortmund airport.

With the exception of Mitch Langerak, Shinji Kagawa and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who represent their countries at the AFC Asian Cup and the African Cup of Nations respectively, as well as the injured Sven Bender, all of the players of the first team squad will make the trip to Spain. Marco Reus said, “I’ve already been able to take part in many training exercises, and from tomorrow onwards I’m also allowed to go into tackles.”