On the second day of the new year, the Wolves escaped the German winter. Captain Jens and his crew delivered the VfL party, which comprised 76 people including the travelling fans on board, safely to their destination: the Algarve. From Faro Airport, it was around an hour on the bus to the Conrad hotel, where the Green-and-Whites will spend the next eight days preparing for the second half of the season.
Regular guests
Almancil is well known to the Wolves by now as they’ve held their winter training camp there since 2019. It’s Maximilian Arnold’s fifth visit to the Portuguese coast this year – and he’s still impressed by the conditions. “I think the facilities here are great and I’m looking forward to our stay,” said the VfL captain. “One of the waiters greeted me with: ‘Welcome back, captain!’ I’ve never experienced that before.”
Quartet missing in Portugal
But for others, such as Bence Dardai, it’s the first time. After lunch together and a short rest, Ralph Hasenhüttl and his coaching staff invited the players onto the pitch at 16:15 for a first, light training session at the nearby sports complex ‘The Campus’. With the exception of Lovro Majer, Rogerio, Kevin Paredes and Bartosz Bialek, all of whom didn’t travel to Almancil, all the players were involved in the one-hour opening session.
