Bayern resume training but hugs and challenges are banned

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich resumed training on Monday for the first time since the German league was suspended due to coronavirus but the players were put through their paces in small groups and maintained social distancing measures.

Keeping at least 1.5 metres from each other, players including captain Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller trained together for the first time since the Bundesliga was halted on March 13.

“It was a very unusual feeling to hold a training session in small groups, but it was also nice to see the boys in person again,” said Neuer after Bayern had previously held training sessions online.

After arriving at staggered times to limit contact -- with no greeting hugs or handshakes -- the 21-man squad was split into five groups, each containing a maximum of five players.

When they changed, the players were kept four metres apart in the changing rooms at the club’s state-of-the-art training complex in southern Germany.

On the pitch, Bayern’s stars were careful to keep their distance from each other and there were no challenges or tackles.

Once training was over, the players left to shower at home, where they ate food provided by the club in lunch boxes.

Bayern asked fans to stay away from the Saebener Strasse complex, where hundreds of supporters usually turn up to see their heroes.

Other clubs also cautiously resumed training Monday, after the league’s ban on doing so until April 5 passed, amid hopes the league will resume in early May.

Bayern are four points clear in the Bundesliga table.

At the training ground of their closest rivals Borussia Dortmund, the players also did not shower or eat on site after a session that focused on running and shooting.

The only clubs in Germany’s top flight not planning group training this week are Freiburg, whose players continue to work individually, and Werder Bremen, where the city’s senate still prevents training in groups.

So far, more than 1,434 people have died in Germany from coronavirus.

“The FC Bayern Munich first team returned to training at Sabener Strabe in small groups from Monday. This will be done in coordination with government policy and the relevant authorities. It goes without saying that all hygiene regulations will be strictly observed,” the club said in a statement.



“Training will take place with no members of the public present. In order to further slow the spread of the coronavirus, FC Bayern asks fans to continue to follow the instructions of the authorities and therefore please do not come to the FC Bayern training ground,” it added.

Recently, German Bundesliga giants Bayern have handed coach Hansi Flick a new contract keeping him at the club until 2023, the club announced Friday.

“Bayern are very happy with Hansi Flick’s work. The team has developed well under him and are playing attractive football,” said club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in a statement.

Flick, a former assistant to Germany coach Joachim Loew, took the reins at Bayern in November after his predecessor Niko Kovac was sacked.

Initially hired as an interim solution, the 55-year-old led Bayern from fourth back to the top of the table, and was rewarded with a contract until the end of this season.

With 18 wins in 21 competitive matches at the helm, Flick put Bayern on course for a record-extending eighth successive Bundesliga title before the season was interrupted by the coronavirus crisis.

“Football is facing big challenges. We believe that Hansi is the right head coach for these times,” said sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.

Rummenigge, meanwhile, praised Flick’s “human qualities” and “empathy”.

Bayern is Flick’s first job as head coach in top-flight club football.

Despite his relative inexperience at club level, the coach has proven popular with senior Bayern players who had grown increasingly frustrated under Kovac.

Agencies