Bayern Munich's forward Thomas Mueller (left) and Bayern Munich's midfielder Joshua Kimmich arrive at the airport in southern Germany before the departure of the team to Qatar.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich will kick off their winter training camp in Doha from today.
Some two weeks after the 3-0 victory over RB Leipzig in the last fixture of 2016, FC Bayern have set off for their traditional mid-season training camp.
On Tuesday morning the German record champions boarded a Lufthansa charter to Doha, where Carlo Ancelotti and his troops will start preparing for the second half of the season.
"I like the time we spend as a team, focusing on training," commented Mats Hummels, who knows the Emirates from last year. "I was at a training camp in Dubai last year and the conditions were perfect. I hope it'll be similar in Doha."
21 of the club's pros and three aspiring youngsters from the junior team, Raphael Obermair, Marco Friedl and Christian Früchtl, will lay the foundations for the second half of the campaign at Aspire Academy.
Nine players (Ribéry, Robben, Neuer, Hummels, Lewandowski, Vidal, Costa, Rafinha and Thiago) will travel to Doha direct from vacation. Jérôme Boateng on the other hand is remaining in Munich to continue working on his sports rehab programme. On Wednesday morning the Bayern pros will work out under Carlo Ancelotti's auspices in the first training session this year.
Bayern will contest one friendly match in Doha, against Belgian top flight outfit KAS Eupen on Tuesday 10 January. The German record champions return to Munich a day later on 11 January.
Meanwhile, Hermann Gerland (62) has been named the immediate successor to Paul Clement as FC Bayern München’s assistant coach. The decision was made together by head coach Ancelotti and the FC Bayern München board.
Outgoing FCB assistant coach Paul Clement (44) had previously received permission from the club to leave FC Bayern after he expressed his desire to take over at Premier League club Swansea City.
Bayern's chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: "Paul has been a professional, loyal and capable coach for us. We did not want to stand in his way of becoming a manager in the Premier League. We wish him all the best for the future."
Gerland was a coach with the FCB reserves from 2001 to 2009 before being promoted to coach the first team in April 2009. In that role he has already assisted Ancelotti’s predecessors Louis van Gaal, Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola.
