The VfB first team began their preparations for the upcoming Bundesliga match against Borussia Mönchengladbach in freezing temperatures on Monday morning. While the players had to don an extra layer or two due to the cold, Atakan Karazor and his team-mates were soon working up a sweat.
“We’ll head to Gladbach well prepared,” said Karazor. “It’ll be a hard-fought game on Sunday. We’re moving the ball around well in training; you could see that in the game we played today. Against Gladbach it’ll be important to be in tune with each other again as a team. I’m looking forward to it.”
While the VfB midfielder will be eyeing the first points of the year on Sunday afternoon, Hiroki Ito, Wooyeong Jeong (both at the Asia Cup), Silas and Serhou Guirassy (Africa Cup of Nations) will all be absent due to their participation at international tournaments.
Furthermore, injured duo Nikolas Nartey and Lilian Egloff both remain sidelined. “We’ll try to compensate for their absences with the boys that we do have,” said Karazor. “Together we can be successful against Gladbach.”