Mats Hummels spent his Monday afternoon working separately from the rest of the squad. The centre-back still needs to take things a bit easier on account of his foot injury and so trained individually instead. In the evening, he fielded questions from the media.

Mats Hummels on getting back out on the pitch:
It felt good to be wearing football boots for the first time in six weeks. That's always an adjustment following a foot injury. But I'm on the right track.

…the atmosphere in the camp:
Eager to get to work. We've had a longer holiday compared to previous years. Now we really want to get stuck in. I'm looking forward to being able to get involved again too.

…the objective:
As I said at the end of the season, I'd like for us to perform slightly better in all competitions that we did last season. 

…his physical condition:
I feel really good. If it hadn't been for this foot injury, my physical condition would've been close to optimal. I was fit for the entirety of last season. I fulfilled the expectations that were placed on me in the first year. I obviously want to continue to do that next season.  

…BVB's quality:
We have the quality of a top team. That's the theory, the footballing quality that we have. We have to show this on the pitch in every game and preferably in almost every training session. That's what distinguishes teams that win something from the other really good teams. That's what we have to work on. It's about consistency and about always delivering. There will be slips, but we can't allow ourselves to slip up too easily or too often. We lost too many points unnecessarily last season. This must not happen to us if we want to challenge at the top. It will be very important for us to deliver from the beginning in most matches and show that we're a top team. Then we'll win more games.

…young and experienced players:
We have a good mix of young and experienced players, with a lot of footballing quality. We have to blend that together in our games; then we'll be an absolutely top team. The job of leading players like me is to make sure we manage that as often as possible. 

…the value of training camps:
I often missed training camps in the past due to tournaments. There you lay the physical foundations for the season. You can get yourself into a good condition during a training camp and throughout pre-season. That hasn't always been easy to do when you start several weeks after the others. In addition, you spend a week together in close confines and you can create a bond within the team, talk to each other even more, lay the foundations on a human level and integrate new signings. In the training camp you can set the course in the right direction.
Recorded by Christina Reinke

BVB-TV by 1&1: Media round with Mats Hummels