41 days after the 2-1 Cup victory against Eintracht Frankfurt the BVB professionals start their preparations for the new season under the supervision of their new Head Coach Peter Bosz.

Performance diagnostics was the main focus on the first day back in training for season 2017/18. Apart from a lactate test that was carried out by the sports science team of the University of Saarbrücken, the programme also consisted of internistic examnations and athletic tests and in addition there was some time for photos and autographs during the breaks.

The BVB pros split up into five groups for the performance tests. Several players were missing - the injured players Marc Reus, Julian Weigl (who popped by to say hello to his team mates after the summer break), Shinji Kagawa and Raphael Guerreiro, the U21 EURO winners Mahmoud Dahoud and Maximilian Philipp (hoildays) and also Sokratis, who is also still on holiday after playing for his national team Greece.

Mario Götze took part in the complete programme and was all smiles and in a good mood just as his team mates Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ousmane Dembélé. The new signings Dan-Axel Zagadou and Ömer Toprak were also happy that the season has started back again and that from tomorrow they will be training with the ball again. Toprak said: "the boys have really made me feel welcome here. I really, really like it here." Toprak switched from Bayer Leverkusen to the Borsigplatz.

The first three training sessions on the pitch will be Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The first pres-season friendly match will be next Tuesday (1900hrs) in Essen. (br)