The next eight days at the training camp are intended to tune up Bayer 04 ahead of a blistering start to the new campaign.
Tour d'Autriche
So it was straight to the training ground after checking in to the team hotel. Karim Bellarabi, Chicharito and Co. got on mountain bikes to cover the eight kilometres to the familiar Alois Latini Stadium on the banks of Lake Zell where Bayer 04 have prepared for the new season for the past three years. A short tour of Austria and the perfect warm-up after the previous day’s friendly against FC Porto (1-1) and the long day on the road before completing a 30-minute recovery session to be ready to start the hard work on Friday.
Three former Salzburg men
A number of Bayer 04 fans were in attendance and they began their vocal rehearsals for the forthcoming campaign. The Werkself were welcomed with open arms when they landed at Salzburg Airport. Above all, Roger Schmidt, Kevin Kampl and André Ramalho attracted a number of fans in search of autographs and selfies who remembered their successful time at RB Salzburg with several title wins. All three still enjoy an excellent reputation in SalzburgerLand.
Brandt meets Krahn
While the team-mates are busy for the next week or so Thursday marks the start of a special mission for Lars Bender and Julian Brandt. Both Werkself pros have the honour of representing Germany at the Olympics in Brazil and the coach Horst Hrubesch has invited his squad to a three-day training camp in Frankfurt before setting off to Sugar Mountain on Saturday. Brandt posed for a photo in Frankfurt with Annike Krahn, the Bayer 04 Women’s Bundesliga preparing for Rio 2016 with the Germany squad.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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