FCBARCELONA.CAT

27.11.2008 18:22

Abidal back with squad

Berta Brau / Vanessa Forns

After the win against Sporting Lisbon, the first team returned to training on Thursday at la Masía. The squad was delighted to be able to welcome Eric Abidal back to work.

Pep Guardiola’s squad started work today on preparations for Saturday’s game against Sevilla at the Sánchez Pizjuán. The biggest news was the return of Abidal, whose recovery is going so well that he was able join his colleagues with training. The defender is still under scrutiny following treatment on a cyst in the meniscus of his right knee.

Initial meeting

During the first few minutes of the session, Guardiola gathered the group together, including the injured Iniesta and Milito and the rest of the coaching staff for a discussion in the centre circle. Once he had finished speaking Milito, Iniesta and Bojan all immediately left the training ground.

Bojan takes knock to Achilles tendon

The reason for Bojan’s early departure was a knock he took to his left Achilles tendon, and he was therefore sent to the recovery rooms. The youngster is expected to be able to return to normal training on Friday.

Two groups

After the usual warm-up drills and a bit of running, the squad was divided in two. The first group, containing Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Alves, Cáceres and Gudjohnsen started with some stretching, after which Alves withdrew and the remaining players went jogging. The rest of the squad was in the other group, including Abidal and they started by playing the ball around in a circle, giving us our first chance to see Abidal making contact with the ball.

Jorquera and Pinto, meanwhile, worked out with the goalkeeping specialist, Juan Carlos Unzué.