Bayern Munich star Leon Goretzka embraces early morning runs in Doha

Bayern Munich star Leon Goretzka has run the gamut on training camps.

Preseason, midseason, national team camp, whatever...Goretzka has been there and done that. With that experience, the midfielder knows that not everything is fun and games during these sessions — including some early morning runs to set the tone for the day.

“We put on our running shoes at 7:30am. It’s been a while since we did that. It’s simply a matter of creating a good foundation so that we can follow through with the program in the second half of the season,” Goretzka told FCBayern.com. “As a footballer, of course you prefer to do something with the ball. But I’ve done these kinds of sessions in training camps in the past and it’s always done me good. I know it’s very important.”

Like any player, Goretzka would rather be working on the ball, but the value of a good training camp cannot be understated.

“You always prefer to be playing, that goes without saying. But we’ve often come up short in preseason, especially in the past few years. You can see that in some of the injuries. The opportunity to recover from one season and prepare for the new one was never really there. We’ve now had the chance to take a breather. That was important.”