FCBARCELONA.CAT

12.11.2009 12:21

Many absent for training

Edgar Fornós / Vanessa Forns

Once more, Barça’s training schedule has been affected by internationals. In the final break of the year, the coaching staff used reserves to bolster the numbers.

Having reached the next round of the Copa del Rey, the squad returned to training today at the Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper. But twelve players, including reserve Fontàs who is with the Spanish Under 21 side, were absent due to calls for international duty. So, for the third time this season, it was a seriously depleted squad that went through the paces.

Six youth players

Josep Guardiola made up the numbers by bringing along six players from the youth team: Espasandín, Bartra, O. Romeu, Jonathan dos Santos, Nolito and Montoya.

Seven from first team

The only first team players left in Barcelona are Valdés, Pinto, Maxwell, Márquez, Milito (still recovering from injury), Pedro and Bojan. But three players originally cited to travel have eventually stayed behind to work on fitness problems, namely Keita, Ibrahimovic and Jeffren.

Fitness and tactics

The usual warm up drills were followed by an exercise to develop possession. The session was only open to the media for fifteen minutes, in which time the players also did circuit training using cones and obstacles.