Bayern Munich’s U-23 side, Bayern II, kicked off their performance diagnostics recently, making the initial steps in the team’s preparation for the second half of the season, as captured by
Head coach Holger Seitz had this to say, via FCBayern.com.: “The slightly longer vacation did us all good, but now we are very happy that things are starting again. Some injured players are coming back, so we can start with a large training group right away. An intensive preparation phase awaits us with some exciting test match opponents, some of whom are from higher leagues. Another focus is the training camp in warm southern Spain. There we will certainly find the best conditions to be able to prepare perfectly for the second half of the season.”
Yes, indeed, the U-23s will have a chance to travel to Spain for their winter camp, though one expects there will be little relaxing done. The official start to the second half of the season starts with bang in a clash against table topping 1. FC Schweinfurt, who are just a single point ahead of Bayern II. Win the match and the lead in the table belongs to Bayern. However, the match is over a month away, at the time of writing, on February 22nd. So to prepare for this momentous clash, Bayern have prepared 6 friendlies to test the team’s mettle, via FCBayern.com:
The first test match against Austrian second division team SV Horn at the FC Bayern Campus is scheduled for January 21st. Three days later, head coach Seitz’s team will travel to the winter training camp in Spain. Two more test matches will be played there: On January 27th (3:30 p.m.), Bayern II will face Danish first division team Sønderjyske, and on January 31st (3:30 p.m.), the Munich team will face FCI Levadia from Estonia. Following the training camp, the second team of the German record champions will be visiting the Austrian second division club FC First Vienna on February 8th (2 p.m.), before facing TSV Eintracht Karlsfeld on February 11th (7 p.m.). The dress rehearsal will be the home game on February 15th (11:30 a.m.) against the Czech second division club FC Silon Táborsko.
The schedule will be tough, but with the team nearing full strength with some long term absentees finally returning and the possible acquisition of Bajung Darboe, the team will be ready to meet the challenges head on.