On New Year’s Day, 1. FC Union Berlin began their short winter preparation for the second half of the season. At the start of training, however, playmaker Max Kruse and new signing Dominique Heintz were missing, as were Kevin Behrens and Rani Khedira.
Kruse had spent his Christmas holiday with his son in Florida. Behrens had a “private appointment”, while Heintz’s training and holiday schedule with his former club SC Freiburg had scheduled the start of training for 2 January, Union announced. “That’s all been agreed. They start on Sunday,” coach Urs Fischer said after the first training session in 2022.
In addition to the offensive duo, other players missing on Saturday afternoon were Pawel Wszolek, who is in quarantine according to manager Oliver Ruhnert, Cedric Teuchert, who was training individually indoors according to the club, Taiwo Awoniyi, who is taking part in the Africa Cup with Nigeria, and also Rani Khedira.
Khedira tested positive
The midfielder tested positive for COVID-19 over the Christmas holidays, Union said. It is possible that Khedira, who is said to be symptom-free, will be able to join training at the start of the week if he has been cleared by then. Youngster Laurenz Dehl, who was injured recently, completed a running session on the pitch with rehab coach Christopher Busse.
Until the start of the second half of the season at Bayer Leverkusen next Saturday, Fischer and Co. have a week to prepare for the first competitive match of the year. After a Christmas break of almost two weeks, the short preparation should not be a problem for the Eisern, who had to complete many English weeks in the first half of the season, especially due to their participation in the Europa Conference League.
“I think the number of days off was important so they could take a breather after our programme,” said Fischer, explaining, “In terms of fitness levels, the guys didn’t lose much, they had to do a bit. It looks good, then you can actually prepare quickly for the Leverkusen task. “
