FCBARCELONA.CAT

03.05.2007 11:42

Messi back with the squad

Jesús Carrillo/Miriam Nadal

The best news coming out of Thursday’s training session was the sight of Lionel Messi exercising with the rest of the squad. The Argentine striker has recovered from the knock he picked up against Levante.

Messi missed training on Monday and Wednesday but was back with the group on Thursday and will be available for this Saturday’s match against Real Sociedad.

Last public session

On Thursday, the squad had their last public training session before training in the stadium on Friday and travelling off to San Sebastian. The session was divided into three sections: warm-up, circuits and the usual practice game.

Warm-up and circuits

After warming up, the players moved on to a series of exercises designed to improve passing and close ball control.

Practice games

The squad then divided up into three groups for the usual practice games. The green team consisted of Sylvinho, Deco, Thuram, Saviola, Ezquerro and Motta; the yellow team of Messi, Gudjohnsen, Gio, Eto’o, Puyol, Xavi and Belletti; the blue team of Ronaldinho, Giuly, Iniesta, Edmilson, Zambrotta and Oleguer.

With Albert Jorquera and Víctor Valdés in goal, the teams alternated, with one team replacing another each time a goal was scored. The unfortunate news of the session was an injury suffered by Deco.