#B04inAustria – Day 7: Danger man

Whenever Joel Pohjanpalo is on the ball. The nippy Finn with a hard shot has an uncanny resemblance to a well-known character from the Elyas M'Barek film “Fack ju Göthe” but the new nickname “Danger” suits him for another reason. Whenever Pohjanpalo pops up in the box danger isn’t far away.

Messi double

From the practice match in the morning. A great move ended with the Finland international, known as the “Iceman” in Düsseldorf, finishing as cool as a cucumber and the spectators in the stand had a cause to celebrate: “Danger” was heard again. Before that they called out “Messi,Messi” at Kevin Kampl. The superstar at Barcelona has recently dyed his hair blond and now bears a certain similarity that can’t be denied.

Cooling off in the lake

The training ground was a hive of activity: The two sessions on the day before the friendly against Fiorentina were incredibly busy. Fitness drills including sprints were on the training agenda. The Werkself produced some attractive moves and there was no shortage of sweat – with temperatures of 30 degrees in the shade. After a total of three hours training the players earned a deserved opportunity to cool off in Lake Zell in the afternoon.

Kießling trains on his own

Stefan Kießling is currently unable to take part in full training but the Werkself goalgetter is busy working on his comeback in SalzburgerLand. On Wednesday he completed a tailored workout on the training ground to applause from the fans – next to his team-mates. And they are right behind Stefan. “We all hope Kieß will soon be back,” said strike partner Chicharito at a press conference in the lunch break.

Hakan v. Bernd

Hakan Calhanoglu just can’t stop. After nearly every training session the Turkey international grabs a few balls to perfect his already outstanding technique at free kicks. Bernd Leno was in goal this time and many of the fans stayed behind to watch the duel between the two maestros. Niklas Lomb took over in nets and, like Calhanoglu, wore a small camera to record a video.

VIPs galore

Marcel Koller called in at the team hotel Tauern Spa. The Austria coach and former manager at FC Köln and VfL Bochum used the opportunity to catch up with Austria internationals Ramazan Öczan and Julian Baumgartlinger. Koller was not the only esteemed guest at the training camp: In addition to coaches Frank Kramer and Ralf Loose Markus Schupp and the former top scorer in the second division Tomislav Maric also popped in. Schupp was most recently sporting director at Kaiserslautern, Maric coach with Slovakia first division club Dunajska Streda.

Friendly live on Facebook

The Werkself face Fiorentina in the next friendly on Thursday night. The whole match at the Alois Latini Stadium will be broadcast live from 18.00 CET on Sport1 and the Bayer 04 Facebook site. It will be available there on demand after the match.

#B04inAustria – ‘Lenomenal’ videos

It is always worth having a look at Facebook. There is something for every Werkself fan deep into the night with information and reports on #Bayer04. One highlight is the Snapchat channel bayer04snaps, where Bernd Leno presents his personal FIFA ultimate team. You can also keep up-to-date on Twitter and Instagram under the hashtag #B04inAustria.