The normal winter break used to be six and a half weeks, but this year it was only three and a half.
According to *Bild*, this was the shortest winter break since 1978.
With the winter break shortened, teams had to start their training camps earlier.
Teams like Freiburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Stuttgart, and Nuremberg all started gathering as early as the 27th.
This would have been unimaginable in the past.
Of course, it was surely even tougher for leagues like the Premier League, which had no winter break at all.
Dortmund, like most teams, chose to assemble on New Year's Day.
This gave them two weeks for winter training.
Just like in previous years, seven Bundesliga teams, including Dortmund and Mainz, chose the southern coast of Spain for their winter training camps, while four teams chose to go to Turkey.
Bayern and Werder Bremen both received invitations for exhibition matches, so they went to Dubai.
VfL Wolfsburg, meanwhile, was invited to South Africa.
