FCBARCELONA.CAT

15.07.2008 20:01

First contact with the ball

Jordi Clos

The squad has worked out on the pitch for the first time this season. It seemed clear from the start that the ball is going to play a central role in the training sessions organised by the new coaching staff.

FC Barcelona 2008/09 have completed their first training session of the year, held on Tuesday afternoon in the Miniestadi, and broadcast live on Barça TV. The previous day and Tuesday morning were taken up with medical examinations, but the time finally came to make contact with the ball. Some 4,000 fans braved the fierce heat to watch the action, the first time Gerard Piqué and Martín Cáceres had trained as Barça players, and the first time Pep Guardiola was the manager for a session. He gave constant orders as he corrected the movements of his troops.

No piggy in the middle

The first note of interest was the absence of the piggy in the middle warm-up that Rijkaard was so fond of, although the ball was still very much the protagonist. The warm-up drills took some 35 minutes, after which, Leo Messi, who had only just got back from Argentina, was excused from the rest of the session.

Intensity from the start

The players then divided into different groups. The first activity involved maintaining possession of the ball in a downsized pitch, in two teams. Meanwhile, another group of five players stretched and did muscular exercises. Gudjohnsen and the three goalkeepers did separate exercises.

Crosas scores first goal of the preseason

Half an hour later, the players used half the pitch for a game. The blue team of Valdés, Sylvinho, Cáceres, Piqué, Oleguer, Gudjohnsen, Pedrito, Abraham and Henry faced the red team of Pinto, Márquez, Abidal, Touré, Busquets, Córcoles, Marc Crosas, Bojan and Jeffren.

Marc Crosas scored the only two goals of the game, which lasted twenty minutes. The fans in the Mini cheered both efforts with extraordinary enthusiasm, and then the players warmed down with some stretching and other exercises.