Due to the international game days, head coach Thomas Schaaf will be missing Per Mertesacker, Tim Wiese, Claudio Pizarro, Marko Arnautovic as well as Florian Trinks and Lennart Thy as the sextet will be playing for their national teams. Felix Kroos had been nominated for the German U21 test matches against Netherlands in Sittard (25 March) and Italy four days later in Kassel. But he called off his participation with a groin problem, which also is keeping him out of team training. Schaaf had the remaining 19 players take part in a training match under the watchful eyes of the fans, who used the good weather to observe their favourite players. The next chance will come Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m.