FCBARCELONA.CAT

20.08.2009 20:19

Ball takes centre stage at Sant Joan Despí

www.fcbarcelona.cat

On Thursday evening the squad trained at the Ciudad Deportiva. It was a brief session involving plenty of work with the ball.

After playing in the Joan Gamper match, Barça are now getting ready for the second leg of the Super Cup game with Athletic Bilbao. The complete hour-long session was open to the media, forming part of the Open Media Day at the Ciudad Deportiva.

Ovation for Pedro

The session began with a brief meeting in one of the corners of the field. The players also applauded Pedro, who on Thursday signed a contract making him an official first team player. While the others warmed up, Iniesta and Márquez worked in isolation with a fitness specialist, but joined the rest of the group for the remainder of the session.

The players were joined by reserve team members Muniesa, Fontàs, Thiago, Jeffren and Jonathan. Víctor Valdés had been given permission not to train, and Gudjohnsen stayed in the gym doing specific exercises.

Focus on ball play

After the usual drills, the treble winners exercised on maintaining possession within a downsized area. Pep Guardiola encouraged his charges to work hard all the way, and the players responded by circulating the ball at an astonishing speed.

The hour over, they then warmed down and withdrew to the dressing rooms. The next session is on Friday at 19.00.