The mandatory fitness tests were already completed in recent days. Now it was time for Anthony Losilla and co to get back out on the grass. 300 VfL fans were in attendance to watch the lads train. They saw a still manageable line-up, but also an external newcomer in the form of striker Philipp Hofmann.

Together with Alexander Nübel, Suat Serdar took home a silver medal with Germany at the U21 European Championship. Following that, he went on holiday and recharged his batteries before making a planned late start into training. In an interview with schalke04.de, the midfielder spoke about the priorities in Mittersill, the loss in the finals against Spain, his first year in a Schalke jersey and the upcoming season.

“I want to be on the pitch and I wasn’t able to do that as much as I would have liked in the first half of the season. Going back home is the right move for me, so that I can get as many minutes as possible at Brøndby,” explained the 22-year-old.

“The first half in the first leg was difficult, but then the second was very good. We were maybe a bit surprised at the start. We analyzed them well and want to play two strong halves tomorrow,” said De Ligt (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “Barcelona is a big club, like Bayern. They played a very good first half in the first leg. They have a good philosophy, lots of possession. For every player it’s a game where you need maximum concentration. We want to be first in the group, so we have to win.”

The task of playing a match every three or four days in either the Bundesliga, DFB...

Borussia will be looking to right two wrongs on the weekend. Not only are Daniel Farke’s side coming off the back of a painful 4-0 defeat in Mainz last time out, but they will also be hoping to get revenge for the 6-0 drubbing handed out by SC in their last trip to Borussia-Park. The Breisgauer had torn Gladbach to pieces inside 37 minutes on matchday 21 last season, recording their first three points in Mönchengladbach since 1995 and the biggest Bundesliga victory in the club’s history. “It’s good to finally have that win there under our belts. I’ve still never headed to Mönchengladbach with a bad feeling though. Even before the 6-0 win, we often had really good and closely fought encounters,” explained Streich.

As 2022 comes to an end, 2023 is just around the corner. The last 12 months were as intense as they were moving. “Behind us is a year in Blue and White with a lot of challenges for our club, and not just from a sporting perspective. The most important moment was definitely winning the relegation play-off and managing to stay in the league,” said Kay Bernstein, looking back at the first half of the year.

A good deed together: As a show of support for the people in the earthquake zone in Türkiye and Syria, TSG Hoffenheim is asking for donations to “Aktion Deutschland Hilft”. The alliance of German aid organisations is collecting money for the victims of the awful natural disaster. Any small amount will help make a difference and help out.

The scenario: TSG went into the match in 14th place in the table with 19 points...

From the fourth division to the Champions League | Returning to the Red Bull Arena 3,885 days after first arriving in Leipzig