FCBARCELONA.CAT

04.01.2009 12:04

Maradona watches training

www.fcbarcelona.cat

The Argentinian manager watched the Barça first team train on Sunday morning. Diego Maradona, invited by Guardiola, said a few words to the players before they started work.

After enjoying Barça’s win against Mallorca from the Camp Nou box, Diego Armando Maradona continued his stay in the city by watching the players train at La Masia

Chat

After greeting all of the players and staff, Josep Guardiola invited Maradona to come onto the pitch and join in with the pre-session talk. The Argentina manager spoke to the players for several minutes.

Informal meeting

At the end of his intervention, Josep Guardiola and Diego Armando Maradona held an informal and spontaneous discussion on the pitch before Maradona stepped aside to watch the rest of the session from the sidelines.

Piqué back

Apart from the presence of Maradona, the other big story was the return of Gerard Piqué, who is now well again after going down with a nasty bout of the flu.

Márquez in doubt

But there was no Rafa Márquez this morning. The Mexican pulled a hamstring in his left leg in the second half of Saturday night’s match, but although medical tests have shown that there is no major damage to the muscle, his place in the side for the Copa del Rey game with Atlético Madrid on Tuesday is in serious doubt.

Hleb and Touré on special plans

Alexander Hleb and Touré Yaya both did special training this morning as they have both got slight problems with twisted ankles. Touré did train on the Masia turf for a while before going off to receive more treatment, but Hleb stayed in the gym.