World Champion Mario Götze is back. Around a month before his likely Bundesliga comeback against Bayern Munich, the 30-year-old is playing for Eintracht Frankfurt for the first time. Every now and then he flashes his skills, but the 2014 World Cup hero still has room for improvement.
Praised and honored for his own merits at his old place of work, Oliver Glasner also found warm words of recognition for his new star Mario Götze after his brief debut. "Mario did very well. I'm very happy with his first few minutes," said Eintracht Frankfurt's coach after Hessen's goalless draw at his former club Linzer ASK.
However: The 2014 world champion had not yet earned a medal like the gold medal of merit from the federal state of Upper Austria, which the 47-year-old received for his successes at LASK, VfL Wolfsburg and above all at the Europa League winner Frankfurt after his 30 minutes of action . "It felt good to wear the jersey for the first time," Götze tweeted.
Bundesliga returnee Götze showed his understanding of the game several times, but the 30-year-old still showed room for improvement when it came to speed and range of action. Glasner, however, preferred to point out the positive approaches of the former Dortmunder: "Two or three times Mario did a great job."
At Götze's former club, the newly signed stars only start training on Monday, but the runners-up still managed to win 2-0 (2-0) against Dynamo Dresden, who had been relegated to the second division. Captain Mats Hummels scored the opening goal, but there were still players from the second row on the pitch. "We're still a bit mixed up, but it was a lot of fun. A great game, no injuries, a day of preparation couldn't be better," said the new BVB coach Edin Terzic.
The current sporting situation is completely different for Dortmund's arch-rivals Schalke 04, who lost 1:3 (1:2) against the third division team SV Meppen in Gelsenkirchen in the old Park Stadium without his slightly injured striker Simon Terodde. Coach Frank Kramer was relaxed about the first defeat of the Bundesliga returnees of the new season: "After three weeks of preparation time, there was a lack of freshness. It's time for us to come to the training camp to work on fine-tuning the defensive and offensive be able." On Monday, the Royal Blues travel to Mittersill/Austria.
Co-promoted Werder Bremen concluded their training camp in Austria with a 1:2 (0:0) defeat in Innsbruck against Besiktas Istanbul. And like colleague Kramer, Ole Werner, coach of the Hanseatic League, did not want to overestimate this result: "We were clearer than before in terms of performance and processes. That was our goal," summed up the 34-year-old.
Meanwhile, Champions League participants Bayer Leverkusen presented themselves in a goal mood in the 6: 1 (4: 1) against the third division club MSV Duisburg. Only 17-year-old Iker Bravo scored three goals. Borussia Mönchengladbach defeated third division club 1860 Munich 6-0 (3-0). VfL Wolfsburg celebrated a shooting match in the 7-1 (3-1) win against the Austrian first division club WSG Tirol. However, midfielder Yannick Gerhardt suffered a ligament injury in his left knee and, according to the club, will be out in the coming weeks.
