The temperature was minus 1 degree Celsius when the players left Dortmund, but today's midday temperature in Marbella is 15 degrees with a slightly cloudy sky – surely a welcome occurrence for the players, as it makes the transition easier. Sunshine and temperatures up to almost 20 degrees are forecast for the next few days.

The Black and Yellows will be training under the Andalusian sunshine until 13 January as they prepare for a second half of the season that could involve up to 29 matches. They certainly have optimal conditions at the Estadio Municipal de Marbella – next to the training pitch a separate area for strength and stabilisation exercises has been set up in two tents.

Götze back in full swing

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Adrian Ramos and Marco Reus after landing in Malaga

Mario Götze has recovered from illness and is back to full strength. However, Sebastian Rode, Raphael Guerreiro, Nuri Sahin, Neven Subotic and Sokratis are still on individual training programmes.

Yesterday afternoon's flight from Dortmund to Malaga lasted almost three hours, followed by a 40-minute bus transfer to Marbella. This morning, at 10:15 CET, the first of two training sessions kicked off, with the second to follow later this afternoon at 17:15 CET.

Tomorrow sees BVB play their first friendly against PSV Eindhoven, in the town of La Línea de la Concepción in the province of Cádiz (Stadio Municipal La Línea de la Concepción). Kick-off is at 16:00 CET. (br)

Pictures from training to follow