Germany Really Needs To Calm Down About This Pep Guardiola Thing

Germany has been struck by Pep fever. Having spent most of the spring eulogising about how Guardiola's choice of the Bundesliga marked the beginning of a new era in German football and then waxing lyrical about his ability to memorise a string of phrases in German on Monday, the German press today are concentrating on his first training session.

Bild - circulation 3.5 million - are live blogging it. That's right, they are live blogging a training session. Highlights so far include:

-17:03 Hermann Gerland is the first out on the turf. He has already been followed out by captain Philipp Lahm and the rest of the players.

-17:09: The players stretch in the centre circle. Guardiola consults his assistants.

-17:16: The classic hot day game: five against two with one touch.

-17:31: Although they are injured, Mario Götze und Holger Badstuber are sitting in the stadium, observing their teammates train.

There are 8,000 people attending this. The adults have paid €5 (to be donated to flood victims) for the privilege. Bayern.de are streaming it live on their website. It has to be said - this is madness.