Bayern Munich players 'ran secret training sessions' behind Carlo Ancelotti's back

German magazine Kicker claims that an unimpressed Arjen Robben organised secret training sessions behind Ancelotti's back

Ancelotti was sacked as Bayern Munich manager last week (Getty)

Bayern Munich’s disgruntled players held secret training sessions behind the back of recently sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti, it was claimed in the German press on Tuesday morning.

Ancelotti left his job at Bayern after a board meeting last Thursday, with the performance of the team and the side’s 3-0 thrashing at the feet of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League adding to the generally poor start to the season.

The previously dominant German champions currently lie in third in the Bundesliga, having recently drawn 2-2 with Wolfsburg and getting beaten 2-0 by Hoffenheim, and will now be managed by Ancelotti's assistant coach Willy Sagnol on an interim basis.

And details published by the German football magazine Kicker on Tuesday morning revealed the extent of the players unhappiness with Ancelotti this season.

The magazine ran a story claiming that Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Mats Hummels, Jérôme Boateng and Thomas Müller were particularly unhappy with Ancelotti’s relaxed training sessions and had so organised ‘secret’ high-intensity sessions behind his back.

Robben was allegedly the ringleader behind these private training sessions, reportedly complaining that Ancelotti’s training methods were less strenuous than the ones his son had to do with his school team.

Robben was unimpressed with Ancelotti's training methods (Getty)

Meanwhile, the Bundesliga champions announced on Monday that Ribery has torn the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee and will be sidelined for several weeks.

The 34-year-old Frenchman, who was injured in Sunday's 2-2 league draw at Hertha Berlin, will have his knee put in a splint for a few weeks while he starts the rehabilitation process.

“We're sorry Franck has injured himself,” Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on the club's website (fcbayern.com). “We all wish him a speedy and successful recovery.”