FCBARCELONA.CAT

11.12.2008 12:06

Preparation goes on for the clásico

Berta Brau / Anna Segura

The first team trained on Thursday morning with their minds firmly set on the high-profile visit of Real Madrid on Saturday night.

The Miniestadi was the venue as Josep Guardiola and 21 of his players gathered at 11.00 sharp, Hleb having rejoined the squad after missing the Wednesday session with a fever. Eto’o however was absent, having been given special permission to look after personal affairs, but no other major players were away.

Bitter cold

Almost all of the players decided to defy the chill by dressing warm. But they didn’t let the cold stop them from putting in 100 per cent effort as they get ready to do battle with the old enemy at the weekend.

No Iniesta

Andrés Iniesta had trained with the group on Tuesday but this time he worked in isolation. He has almost completed his recovery from injury, but still has individual aspects of his programme to complete in conjunction with general work with the rest of the squad.

Young spectators

There was a very special group of youngsters among the crowd that gathered to watch the players go through their paces. This was a select team of twelve 10-year-old boys from the FCB Schools in Egypt, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, who are in the city on a short training camp before heading off to Poland on Friday morning to take part in an international tournament being organised by Lech Poznań. Before they leave Barcelona, the children will be playing a game against the FCB School in Barcelona on one of the pitches next to the Miniestadi.