Bundesliga preparations start: Cologne is looking for a substitute keeper, Freiburg without a national player
1. FC Köln started their preparations for the new 1. Bundesliga season 23/24 with three newcomers. Coach Steffen Baumgart welcomed former international Luca Waldschmidt (27), Jacob Christensen (22) and junior goalkeeper Jonas Nickisch (19) to Geißbockheim on Monday. In addition, the former Hoffenheim goalkeeper Philipp Pentke was allowed to train.
The 38-year-old Pentke will probably not be the new number two at FC. “It’s a win-win situation for us at the moment. Philipp wants to keep fit at the highest level. And since we haven’t yet filled the number two position in goal, he’s complementing Uwe Gospodarek’s training group so that he has a complete manned goalkeeping team,” said FC Managing Director Christian Keller.
The search for a replacement for regular goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe has meanwhile proved difficult after the departure of Timo Horn. “We have a very clear profile, how we imagine it, and we are very open and clear about it,” said Baumgart: “We are convinced that we can find someone.”
1. Bundesliga 23/24: Freiburg starts preparation
Still without storm reinforcement Junior Adamu, but with returnee Florian Müller, SC Freiburg also started preparing for the new season on Monday. Since the national players around Matthias Ginter or the Austrians Adamu (who came from RB Salzburg) and Michael Gregoritsch are not expected back in Freiburg until next week, coach Christian Streich welcomed a heavily thinned squad to training in the morning.
The U21 internationals around Noah Atubolu, who competes with returning Müller (from VfB Stuttgart) for a place in goal, are only to join the team at the training camp in Schruns/Austria (from July 20). The Europa League participants will also be decimated in the first test match against the Swiss first division club Grasshopper Zurich on Saturday (4 p.m.).
“There aren’t that many there yet because the national players need enough vacation – and we’re giving them that,” said Streich, who only received twelve field players and two goalkeepers on the training ground on Monday: “From Tuesday we’ll fill in players from the 2 . Team up so that we can then go into bigger games.”
Freiburg’s first competitive game of the season is on August 13 (3:30 p.m.) at Oberliga side SV Oberachern in the first round of the DFB Cup. The sports club starts in the Bundesliga a week later at TSG Hoffenheim.
2023-07-10 12:50:24
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