A hefty thunder storm late on Friday night made conditions for training on Saturday less intense that it had been over the previous days, with the temperature dropping from 30 plus down to a “mere” 24°C – with a cooling wind sweeping across the training pitch in Donaueschingen. In spite of the more acceptable temperature though, Serdar Tasci & Co. still had plenty of sweating to do, with endurance and rehabilitation coach Dr. Christos Papadopoulos putting the team through a strenuous athletic programme. At the same time, goalkeepers Sven Ulreich, Marc Ziegler and Andre Weis were put through their paces by goalkeeping coach Andreas Menger.

Whilst Labbadia’s eleven worked on their tackling in a game of young-against-old, defender Felice Vecchione was forced to return to the hotel early with a patella tendon injury. Midfielder Johan Audel is continuing to improve and went through a training session on Saturday together with physiotherapist Gerhard Wörn. Training Bruno Labbadia set the second session of the day for 4pm.