The Peninsula
Aspire Academy is hosting a football festival for fans in Doha by welcoming three top European clubs all at one venue for their winter trainings camp in the Qatari capital.
For German giants Bayern Munich, Dutch power house PSV Eindhoven and Belgium club Brugge FC, it’s back to the basics amidst the pleasant weather of Doha at the state-of-the-art Aspire Academy during the week-long training sessions.
The three European clubs are in Qatar to recharge the batteries for the second part of the season and step up their title tilt.
For fans it is gala time chasing their favourite star in Qatar.
Among the three clubs who are training at Aspire Academy, the Bundesliga outfit is the most sought after by eager die hard football fans. The Bavarian team is mobbed by hundreds of fans chasing them everywhere in Doha.
Bayern Munich, who arrived in Doha on Friday, has been besieged by fans attending the training session and many of them waiting anxiously for autographs and selfies.
Among the German players Manuel Neuer, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Jerome Boateng were some of the favourites with the fans.
Besides the players, the German club fans have an added incentive - a chance to pose for a picture with Bundesliga Shield - which has been brought to Qatar by the defending champions.
Besides the local German fans, a number of fans have travelled all the way to Qatar, escaping the extreme winter season back home to enjoy the pleasant weather in Doha.
Compared to Bayern Munich, it was relatively a sedate atmosphere at PSV Eindhoven and Brugge FC training venues.
Yesterday’s training session of PSV Eindhoven saw only a few fans following them and the same was the case with Brugge FC.
Bayern Munich, who trail arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund by six points in the race for the Bundesliga title, are not new to Qatar.
For the Bavarian club this is the eight successive year that they have been having their winter camp in Qatar.
Coach Niko Kovac will hope the training camp will have a significant impact as they look to improve in the second-half of the season.
Bayern Munich will get their league campaign back underway with a trip to Hoffenheim on January 18.
On the other hand Brugge FC are making their maiden winter trip to Qatar along with PSV Eindhoven.
Brugge FC club official Kristen William said: “We used to train in Spain during the winter break during the last few years. This year we preferred to shift base to Qatar. We look to tighten up a few things and hopefully we can win the title.”
Defending champions Brugge are second in the Belgium league race with 41 points from 21 matches behind leaders Genk, who are on 48 points from same number of matches.
Eredivisie leaders, PSV Eindhoven, who enjoy a slender two-point lead over Ajax are here for an eight-day training camp.
The Dutch side, coached by head coach Mark van Bommel, will stay in Doha until January 12.
Meanwhile football fans are in more treats in the coming days with more European clubs checking into Qatar in the coming days to have their training sessions with Belgium club Kas Eupen, and Persepolis from Iran having set a date with Qatar.
Among the other high profile club which will arrive in Qatar is Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The French giants - owned by Qatar - will be in Doha from January 13 to 17.
Four Russian clubs namely Spartak Moscow, FC Rostov, FC Lokomotiv Moscow and FC Zenit Saint Petersburg will be training at Aspire Academy from January 20 to 31.