BVB started the new training week with a regenerative training session on Monday morning. The day after the 1-1 draw in the away game at FC Augsburg, a previously injured regular returned to the team.
Central defender Manuel Akanji was part of a twelve-person training group that took part in the easy running session on Monday at the Black and Yellow training ground in Dortmund-Brackel.
As the “Ruhr news” reported, the Swiss national player limited himself to individual exercises when he returned to the training ground. First, Akanji completed a few coordination exercises together with BVB’s athletics trainer, Dennis Morschel. The defender then jogged a few laps around the pitch.
The return of the 26-year-old is already longed for at BVB. Without Akanji, the black and yellow defensive line often lacked the necessary stability recently.
Moukoko is absent from BVB training on Monday
The defender was indispensable at BVB in the first few months of the season. He had played every game for Westphalia up until December before undergoing minor knee surgery.
Akanji has been struggling with calf problems for several weeks now, but they may finally be over. Whether the BVB star could be back in the Dortmund squad for 1. FSV Mainz 05 next weekend was initially an open question.
In contrast to Akanji, striker Youssoufa Moukoko was somewhat surprisingly absent from Borussia training on Monday morning. The reasons for the omitted unit initially remained unclear.
Theoretically, Moukoko is eligible to play for the BVB U19 team, which plays at Manchester United in the Youth League on Tuesday evening. BVB youth coordinator Lars Ricken recently left open whether the 17-year-old center forward will still be used in the Youth League.