First team training session ahead of the 2025/26 season: precision, details and rain | OneFootball

The first training session was scheduled for 11:00 CET. When Niko Kovac took to the pitch in Brackel, near Dortmund, at 10:45 CET, the young players and goalkeepers had already been pinging around the first passes on the freshly watered turf for a few minutes. The Black & Yellows started the first official training session of the new season on time. Even ahead of time!

After a brief address from the coach, the outfield players divide themselves into three groups and start their laps around the pitch, while the goalkeeper trio of Gregor Kobel, Alex Meyer and new signing Patrick Drewe are already in the middle of the first exercise.

For Julian Brandt and co., the coordination process after the warmup centres around the hurdles. The first round is still supposedly easy: just step over it. But the team still take the exercise seriously. And that's exactly what the coach is looking for: “Don't lose time,” Niko Kovac bellows whenever two players are slightly behind – because the exercises become more intensive, and the chats between the players get shorter.

Meanwhile, Gregor Kobel is already lying on the ground and stopping the balls that goalkeeper coach Matthias Kleinsteiber shoots at the goal from close range. The keepers are also working on the basics. “Very relaxed, but pay attention to the movements,” says Kleinsteiber.

Meanwhile, the outfield players train passing accuracy in two large groups. “It doesn't have to be a sprint yet,” Niko Kovac corrects Julian Brandt in the first lap, “it's all about timing. Work on the details! Accuracy is the important thing.” After two rounds, the players have found their rhythm, and the ball is shifting over the pitch at great speed. “Good,” says Kovac.

In the meantime, the goalkeepers enjoy a short, unscheduled break when they get caught by the sprinklers, which not only cover the grass around the goal, but also the three keepers in Black & Yellow. The rest of the team also get wet a few minutes later when it starts raining heavily. The coaches put on their raincoats, Karim Adeyemi picks up his hat – and then it’s business as usual. The entire team are now together, goalkeepers and outfield players working on transitions after winning the ball. Here too, Niko Kovac stresses: “I only want to see 60 to 70 percent – it's about the movements, not about intensity.”

The Black & Yellows finish the training shortly afterwards with a few easy laps around the pitch – not quite on time, but in the exact same running groups as at the beginning of the session.